Cutting Edge Charisma
by Tsuara
Summary: Life for Kurosaki Ichigo was just the same old boring routine. Go to school, deal with family, and then work. It's not until new neighbors move in across the street when he is introduced to a strange world, and even stranger people. AU IshiIchi
1. Chapter 00: Night Time Watchmen

Title: Cutting Edge Charisma

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach, I'm just a fan of it. Just like everyone else.

*Beta: xXKimochiWatariXx: Special thank you to the beta of this story. Thank you so much my friend.

**Rating: **Pg-13

Author note: (***) lines indicate time skip.

* * *

**_Night Time Watchmen: 00 _**

Lately in the little town of Karakura, the newspapers had reported a sudden string of killings going on in the area. The police reported that eleven people at the age range from twenty to forty-five had all been found with their throats ripped out, violently and it had been speculated that the killer struck at their victims at night.

Even though danger was lurking around at every corner, it didn't stop Ichigo from walking home from his night shift from work. With his hands in his pockets, and a keen ear, the string of murders he had heard about didn't frighten him at all.

His boss had begged him to come into the bar that night to work the night shift, afraid that something bad would happen to Ichigo. But the stubborn boy refused, saying that he really wanted to get home to see his sisters, and yes, believe it or not, his crazy excuse of a dad as well.

Pulling his hands out his pockets, Ichigo pulled his jacket tighter around his body. It was cold that night, and he still had quite a ways to go before he reached his house.

"Jeez, tonight was a slow night." he said to himself as he walked.

A sudden burst of cold wind caused him to speed up the pace. He then tightened his grip on the book bag and decided to run the rest of the way because he didn't want to deal with the hassle of his sisters worrying over him if he caught a cold.

Now only a few blocks from his house, he was about to sprint extra fast when suddenly, he stopped.

Right there, in the dim glow of the porch light, was a stranger. Ichigo eyed the person suspiciously.

"Can I help you with something?" Ichigo asked, mentally kicking into defense mode just in case if the guy tries anything with him.

He looked over at the man, who was strikingly pale. "It's a dangerous time to be out so late, don't you think?" the man asked.

Ichigo's scowl deepened and he tightened his grip on the strap of the bag. "What are you getting at? Stop beating around the bush." The redhead was now getting angry with the intruder. "And get away from my house." He added afterward.

"I'm sorry," The man apologized and gave Ichigo a pleasant smile. "I just wanted to meet my new neighbor, we just moved in across the street, you see."

"It's a little too late for that don't you think?" The adrenaline that had been coursing through the twenty-three-year-old had started to slow its course, leaving only a sense of annoyance and exhaustion behind.

"I met with your sisters earlier but they said you would be home late, so I decided to wait here for you, that's all." He stepped off the young man's porch and walked toward him with his pale hand out. "I'm Ishida Uryuu, it's very nice to meet you."

Ichigo looked at the pale hand that was offered to him to shake. His brought his own hand up…and rudely pushed past Ishida.

"Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo." he mumbled as he walked up the path to his house. And without another glance at the lone man on the street, Ichigo went into the welcoming building without another word.

Ishida watched with little sparks of amusement in his eyes as the redhead stomped his way to the house and slammed the door shut. "…It was nice meeting you." He whispered into the wind. "Very nice indeed…" With that said, Ishida Uryuu walked gracefully back to his new house.

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When Ichigo got back home, his family was already asleep just as he expected them to be, though he found it to be somewhat amusing since they even slept through the racket that the door caused on his way in.

Sighing, he took off his shoes at the entrance and threw his bag down onto the hardwood floor. He stretched his arms, working out all the kinks in his body from the long day, and headed towards the kitchen. Peeking into the fridge, he found his dinner all wrapped up neatly in a plate with foil on top. The redhead took the plate out, but saw a little note on top. It read:

_**Hope you enjoy dinner!**_

**-**_**Yuzu**_

He looked at the note and smiled; he could always count on Yuzu to make his day better with just a little cheerful note, or a smile, and sometimes, a hug. That's why he loved his little sister so much; she's such a sweet girl.

Don't get him wrong; Ichigo loves all of his family to death. And even if he found it a bit annoying that they constantly get overly worried about everything that went on in his life, he loved them with all his heart nonetheless. He then folded up the note, and put it into his pocket.

Unwrapping the foil, Ichigo placed the plate into the microwave with a paper towel on it and waited for the food to heat up. As he waited, Ichigo thought about that strange boy who was at his door a few moments ago.

Ishida told him he had moved in across the street, but he didn't remember anyone moving in that morning when he left for class.

"They must have moved in the evening then." he concluded, and as soon as he said that, the buzzer went off in the microwave. He took the hot plate out carefully, got a spoon from the kitchen drawer, and went straight up to his bedroom to eat.

Sitting at his desk with his plate on top of the wooden surface, he dug his spoon into the curry and rice and stuck the spoon in his mouth.

'_Mmm, Yuzu you're such a good cook! I just don't know what am I gonna do without you.'_ He thought excitedly as he spooned more food into his mouth. It didn't take him long to finish, and as soon as he did he ran downstairs to wash his plate. Then he got his book bag and ran back up to his room.

Despite it being past twelve o' clock, Ichigo had to get some homework done for a class he had tomorrow afternoon, but exhaustion got the best of him and he mentally promised himself that he will do it as soon as he get up in the morning.

Before he went to bed, Ichigo went to close his binds to his window. But not before taking a peak outside at the house across the street from his. Now, Ichigo wasn't the nosy type of person, he was far from it actually. But he just had to make sure that whatever that kid told him was true, instead of being some sick joke. Plus, he was worried for his family; what if that pale man was dangerous? What if he's a murderer?

Ichigo peered out of his window and was expecting to see lights, but the house was completely dark. _'Maybe they hadn't gotten their electricity on yet' _He thought to himself. Feeling a little bolder, Ichigo rested his hands on the windowsill and stretched out a little further out of his window. He stared so hard at the house that he hadn't noticed Uryuu opening and closing the front door. He spotted Ichigo staring out his window at him and waved with a smile on his face.

Ichigo panicked and immediately shut his blinds, his heart pounding a mile a minute at being seen. He vaguely wondered what was that guy doing out so late in the first place, but his body was so tired that he decided that; no, he didn't really care anymore. So he went to bed, letting the sandman take him without much of a fight that night.

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"Morning." Yawned a sleepy red head as he came into the kitchen; still wearing the clothes he had on the night before. It was morning for heaven's sake, and he was too lazy to change.

"IIIICCCCHIIIGOOOO!" Came a loud war cry. And seconds later, a flamboyant man flew in, trying to take out his son with a roundhouse kick to the head.

Ichigo sidestepped the 'Jackie-chan wannabe' with ease, sending the man crashing into the couch with an 'oof!' He rolled his eyes at the unkempt sight that his father was now in. "Old man, you're getting too old for this, give up." He muttered.

"But daddy can't do that!" Cried the man as he scrambled up like a crab. Pointing a thumb dramatically to his chest as pink sparkles appeared in the background, he continued, "Daddy must help his son so that he can make it in a world full of hardships and troubles!"

"Goat-chin, I'm twenty-three for god's sake! I can take care of myself! I still don't know why you insisted on keeping me in this house when I can go to the dorms." Ichigo sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose.

Isshin pouted. "I thought you wanted to stay because you loved daddy! And plus," at this, he pointed his index finger up into the air, "family must stick together!" With that said, he started twirling like a ballerina from room to room, while singing some unrecognizable song at the top of his lungs. Ichigo snorted at his father's antics, chose to ignore it for his sanity, and made his way to the breakfast table.

But alas! Ichigo was careless enough to turn his back on his father.

"By the way, you were late last night!" His dad suddenly yelled, springing up behind Ichigo and hitting him on the head.

Wincing at the slight throb, Ichigo frowned, rubbed his head and sat down in the chair.

"What was that for? You knew that I had to work late!!" He yelled back, still rubbing his head.

"I don't care." Isshin scoffed in a childish manner. "Your sisters were worried sick about you." He then sat down next to Yuzu and got his chopsticks ready.

"Ichigo, you know there's a murderer on the loose." Karin said as she glanced at Ichigo from her rice bowl, drawling out her sentence.

Chewing on some rice, Ichigo simply shrugged.

"Ichi-nii, don't just shrug! Walking on the streets at night is dangerous nowadays!!" Yuzu complained and puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

"Karin, Yuzu, don't worry about me alright?" said the redhead to his two younger sisters, while patting Yuzu on the head. Ichigo then went to pat Karin on the head, but the black-haired twin growled as her brother's hand came closer. Ichigo chuckled, but patted her on the head anyways.

"Oh, Masaki-your son's becoming a hoodlum, what am I supposed to do?!" Isshin broke out crying at Ichigo's careless shrug and answer. He then ran from the table and knelt down beneath the poster his deceased wife, sobbing hysterically into his pink handkerchief.

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo finished his breakfast and put his used utensils and dishes into the sink.

"Hey, what are those new neighbors like?" Ichigo asked, getting another glass of orange juice.

"They're…weird." Karin answered, now chewing on some toast.

"Karin! They're nice! The brother is so handsome, and Uryuu is too!" Yuzu blushed with her hands on her cheeks, looking very much like a fan-girl.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Brother?" He asked.

Yuzu nodded. "Yeah, Uryuu said his name is Byakuya. We didn't get properly introduced to him though, but we did see him!" she continued.

"Oh?" the older sibling commented, a little interested in the discussion now. "Did they say where they were from?"

"That's what makes them so weird." Karin chimed in. Yuzu pouted at Karin's comment, then smiled at Ichigo before she spoke. "They said they were from Iwo Jima."

"What?!" The redhead almost spat out his orange juice. "That place is an old battle ground, why were they living there?"

Yuzu shrugged, and continued to clean the table while Isshin flipped a page of his newspaper as he listened in. _'When did he came back to the table?'_ Ichigo thought to himself, but decided that he didn't want to know.

But Karin was right, that was a little strange. "I met that Ishida guy last night." He decided to say, finishing his glass of juice.

"How?" Isshin asked, not moving his face from the newspaper.

"He was standing at our doorstep." He replied.

Karin raised an eyebrow. "They're a bunch of weirdoes Ichi-nii, you better watch out for them." The black-haired girl gave Ichigo a knowing look.

"I…uh…kinda gave him the cold shoulder last night too." Ichigo revealed, laughing nervously. "Ichi-nii!!" Yuzu reprimanded.

"I'm going to do some homework now." He quickly cut in, avoiding any more confrontation as he raced to his room.

Ichigo ran upstairs to his room and closed the door. Before he got his books out, Ichigo opened the blinds to his room to let in the bright sunlight. As the rays hit his face, Ichigo felt so warm and comforted; the sun made him feel energized and ready to do anything. After he opened his window, Ichigo peeped at the house across the street, and saw the strangest thing.

The windows were now blocked off by wooden planks. Ichigo scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion.

He shook his head and turned away from his window, pretending to ignore what he saw. He then went right to doing what he came in his room to do: his homework.

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"Ah…Kurosaki-san, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed this paper of yours!" The blond professor complemented Ichigo as he handed the five-page essay to the redhead.

"Thanks, Urahara-sensei." Ichigo took his paper, and with no surprise, he had gotten an 'A+' on it like he always did in his history class. Professor Urahara was his favorite teacher, and it showed in his work.

Time flew in class, and before he could wink, it had ended. Urahara had told them that he would give them an outline of their next paper assignment by next week. After the class let out, Ichigo had sprinted to the local café where he would meet up with his friends to eat lunch. When he got there, he had already spotted them. They were seated at the far end of the place.

"You guys!" he waved, making his way to their usual seat.

"It's about time you got here, jackass." Renji smirked.

"Nice to see you again too." Ichigo retorted sarcastically and sat down at the table.

Chad nodded to him, and Inoue smiled, giving a small wave back before returning to her food.

"How are classes?" Rukia asked, sipping on her vanilla mocha. The four had already ordered their coffee and sandwiches.

"Fine." Ichigo was curt and to the point.

"Yuzu called me and said you have new neighbors!" Orihime said happily.

For the past couple of years, his little sister and Orihime would call each other and exchange recipe ideas. They had been doing it for years.

"I see news gets out fast." Ichigo thought, giving a crooked smile. "They're from Iwo Jima…apparently." He said, crossing his arms. He wasn't very hungry, so he decided against ordering something for lunch.

"Bull shit…" The crimson-haired tattooed man mumbled.

"That's kinda cool!" Rukia exclaimed, and then returned to chugging down her mocha.

"One of them was standing at my doorstep when I got home from work last night." Ichigo added. Everyone raised an eyebrow, even Chad looked up from his long locks.

"What did he look like?" Renji asked, now intrigued with the direction of this conversation.

"Uh…he's really pale, white and he looks like your typical Japanese nerd. Black hair, navy blue eyes, and glasses." Ichigo explained.

"Funny, Yuzu said he was really handsome." Inoue said putting her finger under her chin, remembering what the girl said.

"That's beside the point, he's a real creeper." Ichigo scratched his head.

The five finished talking and then left their separate ways. Renji had said he'll meet him at his job tomorrow evening, something Ichigo whole-heartedly said that he was looking forward to.

Chad had offered to walk Ichigo home, but the stubborn redhead refused. Nighttime had fallen, and the large man was concerned about the other's safety. He had watched the news and knew that there was a killer out there waiting, and that made him paranoid to let any of his friends go home alone.

"Chad, I'll be fine, my house is close." the redhead reassured. "…Alright, but if you need anything, make sure to call." Chad looked down at the young man.

"Okay mother, can I go now?" Ichigo folded his arms, amusing shining in his eyes.

Chad blushed and waved his hand. "…Bye." He then took a few steps back and headed the opposite direction. After waving seeing his brown-haired friend off, Ichigo took a deep breath and walked as swiftly as he could home.

Reaching the familiar and welcoming building, he breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was making him so nervous to even walk down the street nowadays; it was starting to get to him. Ichigo ruffled his hair slightly with his hand, and then twisted the knob to open the door.

But it was locked. Ichigo frowned; that's strange, they never locked their doors before. Then it dawned on him; ah yes, Yuzu probably locked the door for safety reasons, since there is a murderer on the loose.

The redhead scowled. First his friends are acting extra cautious and jumpy these few days, and now his family is locking the doors and bolting shut the windows. What next?

Ichigo sighed and pounded on the door, not bothering to be polite. Muffled footsteps sounded a few seconds later, and then the door swung open.

"Welcome home, Ichi-nii!" Yuzu chirped, stepping aside to let her brother in.

Ichigo grunted as a sign of greeting, but as soon as he was about to pull off his shoes, a…pie blocked his vision.

The redhead sighed tiredly. "What is it?" he asked, feeling a little annoyed.

" I made this pie for our new neighbors! Can you take this to them?" Yuzu asked, holding the sweet smelling dessert.

"Do I have to? I just got in the house." He moaned, not feeling like talking to the strange, new neighbors.

"Please Ichi-nii!" The little girl pouted. "And plus, you were rude to Uryuu-san yesterday, so _you_ take it over!" With that said, Yuzu plopped the pie onto her brother's hands.

"Fine, fine. I'll go over and give it to them." Ichigo took the pie, dropped his backpack on the floor, and then shut the door.

Ichigo walked to the strange house with a slight slouch. In one hand, the redhead held the pie, while the other hand was tucked into his pant's pocket.

"And here I thought that this day wasn't already long enough." He walked across the street and nervously arrived at the foreign door. He didn't know why, but the stomach butterflies had decided to come out and play today.

Ichigo raised his hand to knock, but lowered it instead. Why was he so nervous? He shook his head, raised his hand again, but before he even had the chance to knock, the door swung open, revealing Ishida Uryuu at the doorway.

"Oh…h-hello." The pale teen looked at him, confusion written all over his face.

Blushing a little in embarrassment, Ichigo held the pie out. "My sister…um…wanted me to give this to you." He mumbled, not making eye contact with Ishida, and then shoved the pie into the pale man's hands.

Ishida looked at the pie, then at Ichigo. "Thank you…very much, Kurosaki-san." He smiled.

"I also came here to…_apologize_." The twenty-three-year-old paused before saying the word 'apologize'. It felt awkward saying it, since he rarely says sorry to people.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head, trying very hard to not look at the other in the eyes.

"It's alright. If I were you I wouldn't warm up to a stranger these days either." Ishida chuckled.

The redhead laughed back nervously, offering a little grin. The two stood there smiling, all awkwardness gone, and then Uryuu walked into the house.

"Please, come in." He said, and stood aside to let Ichigo into the room. "My…brother isn't here right now. He's out."

"Uh…maybe I shouldn't…" The redhead started, looking skeptical and suspicious at once. Uryuu had been right; Ichigo didn't trust people easily.

"Please, I insist." Ishida's voice was cool and calm, almost hypnotizing to the brash man. Suddenly, Ichigo felt as if he was battling a war in his mind, and his face turned tense, his eyebrows furrowed. Ishida seemed to sense that he was hesitant and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I won't bite." He joked.

A few minutes later, Ichigo found himself sitting comfortably on the couch, talking, laughing, and chatting about nonsensical stuff with his new neighbor. He felt strangely calm with the presence of Ishida beside him, and would occasionally blush whenever the pale man made skin contact with him. Whether it's a light brush of fingers or a slight bump on the shoulder, Ichigo would always find his face heating up and his stomach churning. But he didn't think too much of it. After all, it could just be the heating system in the house, or something he ate today that wasn't really cooperating with his tummy.

"What made you move?" Ichigo decided to ask, drinking a glass of water that was given to him.

"The people back where we lived weren't really nice to us." Ishida was now looking at him with intense eyes, which caused the redhead to stir, fidget, and feel a little nervous.

He suddenly wanted to ask about the wooden boards nailed to the windows, but his moral conscience told him to leave it alone. There was a chance that it's a sensitive subject, after all.

"You know…you're quite cute." Ishida commented after awhile, propping his chin up with his hand, leaning on the table.

"Uh…thanks? My sisters said that you are very handsome, …they're actually not wrong in that aspect." Ichigo commented, not really thinking about what he was saying. When his mind finally processed what he just said, Ichigo slapped a hand to his mouth, face turning as red as a beet. He hadn't meant for his thoughts to be spoken out loud.

However, Ishida just laughed and sat back in his seat. The silence returned, but it wasn't awkward. It was rather comforting, and the redhead was relieved that the pale man didn't tease or pursue him about what he had commented about man. The two then flinched at the same time when they heard a rustling noise at the door. The 'brother' had returned.

All of the sudden, the mood in the house changed, and Ichigo didn't think it was possible but the young man sitting next to him got even paler when the door swung open. An elder man glided into the room, and upon shutting the door, looked right at the redheaded boy sitting on _his_ couch in _his_ house.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?" Ichigo stood up, his knees slightly shaking. He had to admit; Ishida's 'brother' was a bit intimidating. The man looked stern, had long, jet-black hair with strange white clips as ornaments, and a pale face. But he was taller and his eyes were even more intense than Uryuu's.

"Uhm…t-this is Kurosaki Ichigo, he's the neighbor across the street." Uryuu hesitatingly introduced his new friend to his brother, but pushed Ichigo back and stepped in front of front of him in the process, as if protecting him.

The elder man, who goes by the name Byakuya, frowned. He narrowed his cold, dark eyes and glared at the man behind his brother. "I could care less about that lowly creature. I'm warning you, Ishida, do not _ever_ bring in _anybody_ without my consent. And as for you, stranger," Byakuya said coldly, "get out of my house this instant!"

Ichigo was shocked. Never in his life had he met anyone as rude as this poor excuse of a man in front of him. Well…he would occasionally run into thugs, but they weren't worthy to be called men, they were dirt. Real men don't hide in alleyways and pick on those who are weaker than them.

The redhead snapped out of his thoughts and made a beeline for the door. He was about to make a mad dash but Uryuu gently grabbed his hand before he could. The gesture calmed him down a little, but once he saw the expression on Byakuya face, Ichigo's nervousness returned ten-fold.

"Tell your sister I said thank you." He whispered, smiling as if to say goodbye forever and released his hand.

Ichigo made a slight nod, and without another word, escaped out the door. Running out of the house, a great guilt suddenly came crashing down on him; Ichigo just hoped that Ishida didn't get into trouble with that man because of him. If he did, then Ichigo just hoped that the pale boy wouldn't blame him for it. He didn't mean for that to happen, after all.

When he got home, Ichigo avoided his father's usual routine of kung fu fighting and his sisters' greetings. He went right upstairs and shut the door to his room. Ichigo wordlessly jumped onto his bed and spread himself out on top of the mattress. Turning his head sideways, the curious redhead looked out the bedroom window, and cursed the wooden boards that were nailed on the windows of Ishida's house.

Thinking back to his unfortunate encounter with the hostile neighbor, Ichigo mentally shuddered. His brother was so frightening. He looked like one of those villains that popped out of horror stories…or…a bloodthirsty vampire that longs for raw human flesh and crimson blood. Not to mention, the man got eyes that looked like as if he can kill you right then and there by just looking at you. Ichigo frowned; indeed, this Byakuya person is a scary man.

Yuzu may be right; yes, he was handsome, gorgeous even. But he wouldn't want to be stuck in a house with _that_ type of person on a rainy day; Ichigo would rather kill himself.

A knock at the door made the brash man almost fly out the window. He eyed the door annoyingly, as if telling it to 'shut up', but the knock came again. Ichigo sighed. Karma just wasn't on his side today, he decided.

The knock continued, this time with a voice behind it. It was Karin.

"Ichigo? Did you give Ishida-san that pie Yuzu made?" she asked, and rolled her eyes as Yuzu and Isshin plastered themselves to the door, glass cups to their right ear, trying to detect any commotion in the young man's room.

"Yes, he said thanks." He answered back, closing the blinds to his window and plopped down on his bed. A light scratching noise from beyond the door made its way to Ichigo's ear. The redhead groaned. Will those two _ever_ grow up? But on second thought, Yuzu can be dismissed; she is young after all. But that crazy man however, is not an exception.

"Oi, Yuzu, Goat face. Can you guys stop snooping around?" He accused. Upon hearing their names being called, Yuzu and Isshin both jolted up in surprise and ran downstairs while blushing in mild embarrassment at getting caught. Karin however, had long ago retreated to her room, taking no interest in stalking or eavesdropping on her brother. The stubborn strawberry can take care of himself; he is twenty-three after all.

Soon the house was silent, and Ichigo had got his wish, and he was left alone like he asked.

* * *

_**Tsuara: **_'ello bloods, how are ya? This story here has been swimming around in my head for about 3 years, and I've never got around to writing it~ now I have the chance since my other story is nearly done. I'm so excited about it, oh my goodness ladies and gentlemen!!!

Well, until next time, later!


	2. Chapter 01: Midnight Mayhem part I

Title: Cutting Edge Charisma

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach, I'm just a fan of it. Just like everyone else.

*Beta: xXKimochiWatariXx: Special thank you to the beta of this story. Thank you so much buddy.

**Rating: **Pg-13

* * *

**Midnight Mayhem:01 (Part I)  
**

Morning had arrived and dissipated just as quickly as it came, and the night had finally decided to come and take over its duty, watching over the little sleepy town with its radiant moon.

Inside the Kurosaki household, Ichigo had just finished helping out with putting up the plates from dinner, when suddenly, the phone rang.

"Kurosaki residents." He muttered the same greeting they all used when answering any unknown call.

"Ichigo! How's my favorite employee?" It was his boss at the bar he worked at.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "What now, did the bar burn down?" The redheaded man joked, chuckling.

The owner sounded deceitfully sad on the other line. "Now why would you say something like that?" She said. Ichigo smirked; he could just picture the woman pouting on the other line now.

"Whatever. Is there something you need?" Ichigo asked in all seriousness.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I need you to come in tonight…if you don't mind." The woman added later, sounding very suspicious and sly over the line.

Sighing, Ichigo looked at the clock and saw that it was already a little past eight. Thinking about it, he couldn't refuse either.

Boss calling him in = more work hours = more pay = a lot of more money = the capability of buying or renting an apartment for himself = getting out the crazy house = getting away from his dad = a good thing.

All seemed like good reasons to him.

"Fine, I'll be there in twenty minutes." The redhead agreed and abruptly hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Yuzu asked from the kitchen, busy with wiping the wet kitchen counter dry.

"I have to work late again tonight." Ichigo replied, sounding almost annoyed. Yuzu went over to her brother and gave a sympathetic squeeze to his arm. She hated it whenever his brother had to work late; it was bad for his health, and it gave her Ichi-nii a lot of unnecessary stress. Also, working late at a time like this…

Yuzu shuddered, and shoved the thoughts out of her mind. No, Ichigo can take care of himself, she must trust him.

"Just…make sure you're careful!" she warned, and then went right back to cleaning.

The strawberry gave a small smile to his sister; she was always worrying about him. Shaking his head, Ichigo went upstairs to get changed into his working uniform.

Soon he came flying back downstairs, tousling his hair in process…but unfortunately, he ran into his father at the bottom of staircase.

"Now, where is my manly son going at this hour?" Isshin raised a questioning eyebrow, his arms akimbo, looking like one of those nannies featured in late night shows.

"…I'm going to work." Ichigo answered and tried to edge around his father.

"Nah, ah, ah!" The bearded man pushed Ichigo back when he tried to escape, wagging his finger in front of his son's face while he was at it. "No son of mine will be going out this late at night. No siree!" He tisked.

Ichigo felt his patience thinning. "Listen, you senile old coot," The hotheaded orange-head poked his father in the ribs, "I need to get to work. My boss needs me. So…_move_."

Isshin sniffed, feeling unloved by all once again. "Masaki!" He cried, scrambling to the giant poster of Ichigo's deceased mother. "Our son doesn't heed his daddy's warnings anymore! I have failed as a father, my deepest apologies!"

The strawberry felt his eye twitch. "You…still haven't taken down that poster yet…" He deadpanned.

Karin walked into the living room, and then rolled her eyes. "You think he ever will? How naïve of you, _big_ brother." She muttered sarcastically.

"Very funny, Karin. Now get to bed!" Ichigo pointed to the stairs.

"Dunno why I have to if you're not gonna." The dark-haired girl protested, and then stomped away.

Ichigo sighed and made his way to the front door.

"Where do you think you're going, my manly son?!" Yelled his father, pouncing on his son's back. The hotheaded man's patience snapped, and he threw Isshin over his shoulder and onto the ground.

"I need to get to work! Now move it and just let me go!" He shouted at the man on the floor.

"No son of mine is going out at this-!" But Karin, who had put her hand over Isshin's mouth, shut him up immediately. She gave him a wary look; she had sensed that Ichigo wasn't feeling up to any arguments tonight.

"Bye guys, I have a spare key, so you guys can lock the door alright?" Ichigo said, putting on his shoes at the doorway.

"Alright." Both Yuzu and Karin agreed in unison. Isshin's mouth was still muffled by his daughter's hand.

Ichigo stepped foot outside and gave a sigh; sometimes his dad's overprotective manner bugged him to no end. He felt a little bad for yelling at his father; maybe apologizing to the crazy old loon can make it better?

The redhead shook his head and shrugged at the thought. Whatever, he'll deal with it when he comes back. Walking out the front gate, Ichigo opened and shut the white fence. He raised his head to the night sky and closed his eyes. A gentle gust of wind blew by, carrying with it a refreshing and cool feeling. Ichigo grinned, the wind always made him feel better.

Turning around, he was about to head for work, when a pale hand suddenly patted him on the shoulder. Ichigo jumped, shaken by the sudden intrusion, and fell to the ground, landing in an undignified heap of human flesh. The hotheaded man growled, and turned to yell at the inconsiderate man…only to find Uryuu standing before him, with a concerned expression on his face. Ichigo's eyes widened for a second; Ishida looked so frighteningly pale in the dark, he could almost pass for a ghost.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, Kurosaki-san." Ishida apologized, and held out his hand to help the stunned boy up.

Ichigo hesitated to take the equally pale hand, and eyed it like it was some kind of exotic object, but gave in and took it anyway. After standing up, Ichigo brushed off the dirt that were clinging stubbornly to his pants fabric, and then turned toward Ishida.

"Did you want to talk to my sisters or something?" He asked him.

Shaking his head, Uryuu denied, "No, I just came out of the house for a stroll and happened to see you, so I wanted say hi." He explained.

"Well then…hi." Ichigo greeted, feeling a little awkward.

Ishida smiled, and suppressed a chuckle. "Yes, hi." He greeted back.

"Uh…it's a little dangerous to be strolling out so late…" Ichigo warned and mentally thought, _'He's weird.' _

"Oh, I'm not afraid." Uryuu gave a toothy grin, freaking Ichigo out even more. That grin looked dangerous and mysterious, as if he knew something that the redhead didn't.

"Uh…huh?" Ichigo nodded, feeling very 'creeped' out now. Yes, Ishida Uryuu is a nice guy, very handsome and kind, but that doesn't mean that he can't be creepy at the same time.

…Awkward moment…

'_Okay…awkward moment's gotta stop now…' _Ichigo thought, and mentally whacked his brain in order to come up with a topic for conversation.

"Are you off to work?" Ishida interrupted the silence, eyeing the younger man's uniform.

Ichigo nodded

"Mind if I walk you?" The glasses-wearing man offered. Thinking that it wasn't a bad idea, the redhead agreed and soon, the two were walking down the sidewalk to the strawberry's work place while chatting once again.

"So you work at a bar, huh? Sounds quite exciting." Ishida smiled and commented as he walked side by side with the other man.

"It's okay. Most of the time it's enjoyable…until one of the workers get drunk, because then I need to drag their asses home and clean up after them. It's a hassle." The strawberry sighed.

The black-haired man could only chuckle in amusement.

"Hey Ishida?"

"Hm? Yes, Kurosaki-san?" The said man looked at Ichigo, urging him to continue.

"I never see you go out during the day, do you…um" Ichigo gestured with his hands, being very careful about wording what he wanted to say without offending the other man.

Ishida's eyes widened, "I…" He trailed off, not knowing what to say. Uryuu looked down at the ground, and wondered how he could answer this question without blowing his cover.

"…I-um…just don't go out that often during the day, that's all." He smiled at Ichigo, and then cringed inwardly at his lame response.

"Are you like, agoraphobic or something?" That was the only conclusion the redhead could come up with.

"No, I just don't like going out." The pale man clarified, hoping that the strawberry would just buy it and let it go.

"Well, maybe you should go out during the day once in a while, you look a little…pale." Ichigo chuckled, joking.

Uryuu just smiled in response, but he had to agree with him; he was deathly pale.

Suddenly, the pale man stopped and looked at Ichigo, who stopped in front of him.

"What is it?" The redhead asked, confused and concerned.

"I wanted to apologize for my brother's hostile behavior yesterday, I hope you didn't take what he said to heart." Ishida said; his eyes looked a little sad.

"It's fine, but I hope I didn't get you into any trouble." Ichigo accepted, and then added, "Did you like the pie?"

"My brother and I enjoyed it very much." Uryuu said right after Ichigo had finished his sentence. Ichigo blinked at the sudden answer, trying to process the few words through his brain.

The two arrived at the bar in a very awkward silence. As soon as the bar was within the pair's view, they spotted another redhead leaning against the wall. Renji was right there, waiting for the strawberry just like he said he would.

"Yo!" Renji waved to his friend, and then quickly glanced at the guest that Ichigo had brought with him.

"Hey Renji. This is Ishida Uryuu, my neighbor. Ishida, this dude here is Abarai Renji, my friend." Ichigo introduced.

Uryuu then extended his hand in greeting; Renji took it into his but then retracted back quickly as if he had been stung. He stared wide-eyed at Ichigo's pale neighbor, then glanced at Ichigo, who was currently looking in his pocket for his nametag.

"Those are…some unique tattoos, Abarai-san." Uryuu commented and motioned to the pony-tailed man's forehead. He didn't seem fazed at the red-haired man's behavior at all.

"U-uh…thanks…" Renji thanked, and took a few cautious steps back. He then carefully opened the bar door, not taking his eyes off of the strange young adult. "I-Ichigo, I'm gonna head inside." Abarai said instead, snapping his eyes back to the orange-head.

" 'Kay, I'll see you there in a minute." Ichigo waved and turned his attention to the man who walked him to work.

"Would you like to get a few free drinks, that's why Renji's here," He smirked.

But Uryuu shook his head. "I don't drink…alcohol that much."

"Oh, me neither. Weird, I'm a bartender and I don't drink." Ichigo smiled and laughed a bit. Ishida smiled back, finding it a bit ironic too.

"I guess I'll take my leave now." Ichigo had notice the man getting a little anxious.

Looking down on the pavement, the redhead tried to think of something to say.

"Thanks for-" He decided to just thank Ishida for the safe walk to work, but when he looked back up, his new neighbor had already disappeared.

'_That's so weird…he was just here a second ago.'_ The redhead thought. He then went to the bar entrance and, with one last look around, disappeared into the chaotic building.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Time dragged on, and as the night grew darker and darker, more people began to pile into the bar.

"Tonight's a good night." The boss of the establishment sauntered over to Ichigo.

"Hey, Yoruichi-san." Ichigo greeted, while mixing a glass of Avalanche, a type of cocktail, at his stand. He was fairly busy, mixing different drinks and shots as soon as he stepped through those double doors. The red head glanced at the orders that the costumers had placed; it looked like he'll be stuck here mixing another four glasses of After Eight and two more glasses of Mai Tai before retiring for the night…troublesome.

Ichigo sighed and added in a little more Kahlua to the drink; he never thought that he'd be handling this alone, _all by himself_. The irritated strawberry did a low growl; _where the hell is Renji when you need him?_

Meanwhile, the mahogany purple-haired woman smiled at him. "Thanks for coming in tonight, Ichigo. I just don't know what state this bar will be in if I left Renji in charge." She winked.

"It's no problem, I don't blame you. God knows what kind of a lazy bastard Renji is." Ichigo smirked, but slightly winced as a waiter slapped down two more drink orders for an Angel's Kiss and a Summer Breezer.

Looks like he'll be stuck here for a while.

Yoruichi chuckled. "Yes, he can be a lazy bastard at times. But he has the most wonderful ideas for new drink recipes. That Summer Breezer there was his idea, you know." The woman pointed out with a slight sense of pride.

Ichigo only nodded and smirked.

"HEY ICHIGO!" A loud, obnoxious voice called out.

The said redhead sighed and face-palmed; he can only predict one thing now:

Renji had gotten hammered and now he's making a fool out of himself…_again_.

'_Typical.'_ The strawberry thought.

"I'm sorry about him Yoruichi-san." Ichigo gave a knowing look and she shrugged.

Ichigo walked over to the side where Renji was currently singing to himself. "What is it, moron?" He asked his drunken friend with a scowl on his face.

"Can I –hic- tell you soooommething?" The tattooed and now, drunk, man slurred. He then proceeded to finish off the drink in his hand and wiped off his mouth sloppily.

"What is it Renji?" The redhead replied.

"T-that guy neighbor of yours…there's something –hic- wrooong with him." Renji mumbled. "Like, s-seriously wrong…"

"Really? Maybe there's something wrong with you instead. I'm calling Rukia to drag your ass home." And not wanting to hear what other nonsense the crimson-haired man can spew up, Ichigo turned a deaf ear and walked away.

It had reached a quarter past eleven now and the bar was about an hour away from closing. Ichigo had already phoned Rukia to pick up a now hysterical, tattooed maniac. Renji always got like this on the few nights Ichigo worked at the bar; he'd come for the drinks and always end up drinking more than his body could handle. Ichigo swears that this kid can't hold his liquor to save his life.

Soon, the short woman came into the bar and found Renji standing on one of the stools with his shirt off.

"Thanks Rukia." Ichigo called as he cleaned the glasses.

The petit raven-head nodded, then without hesitation, kicked the stool from Renji's feet, causing the fiery red to fall to the ground spread eagle styled.

"What the fuck, woman?! What are you-" She punched him in the stomach.

"Get up you lazy ass! Stop causing trouble for everyone and let's go!" Rukia hissed angrily as Renji stood up slowly, holding his stomach.

"Bye Renji!" Yoruichi waved, smirking.

The bar continued to empty out people until it was time for Ichigo to end his shift and go home. He took off the small nametag and put it safely back into his jeans pocket.

"Ichigo." Yoruichi called as she was tending to some cash business at the register.

"Yeah?"

"I'll drive you home if you like, it's dangerous at this time of night." The kind woman offered as she was putting back a bottle cognac.

"Don't worry about it, I can take care of myself." He reassured her just as the dark-skinned woman grabbed her keys.

Yoruichi sighed in defeat. "Alright, but don't do anything stupid. I sure don't wanna see my best worker six feet under the ground."

Ichigo gave a laugh, and walked out the door.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The strawberry casually strolled down the sidewalk. A gentle gust of wind blew, followed by some stray leaves. Ichigo lifted his head and took a deep breath; nothing is better than fresh air after working in a smoky bar for more than four hours straight.

A loud clanging noise suddenly reached him, and Ichigo's eyes flew open and turned toward the racket. He stopped and got into a defensive position, waiting for…well, something.

"Meow."

'…_What?'_

It was black cat, and apparently, it was looking for scraps in the nearby garbage bins. The creature slowly made its way into the light, its eyes in slits and flashing a brilliant hue of blue. The feline trotted up arrogantly to Ichigo and sat on its hind legs, as if expecting something.

Ichigo sighed and dropped his guard. "Stupid cat, making me look like an idiot…" He muttered, but bent down to pat it anyway. The cat purred as the strawberry's hand wove through its silky black fur. The strawberry sighed, "Spoiled little guy, aren't you?"

The cat didn't say anything, and merely glanced up at him with its curious blue eyes. A squeaking noise suddenly caught its attention, and the cat went after it, leaving the young man standing there without a companion.

Ichigo continued his journey to home, his hands tucked into his pockets, shoulders now a little more tense. A sudden chill ran down his spine, and the redhead couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling that he was being watched. So the redhead sped up and walked faster, closer to the street lamps.

Suddenly, the strawberry heard a faint rustle of bushes, and then saw a shadow flash quickly in front of him and into the nearest alleyway. Ichigo stopped abruptly and got into a defensive position. His heart pounded a mile a minute in anticipation and anxiety, and the blood in his body burned and surged with the constant rushes of adrenaline.

"Who or whatever you are, get out!" He yelled, trying to sound brave, but gave away his real feeling with his slightly dilated pupils and the quickened breaths.

A cackle emitted from the dark alley, and the 'shadow' stepped out and stood underneath one of the street lamps.

"Why, hello there." It said. The figure appeared to be a man about six feet in height, with eyes and hair the color of the Caribbean ocean. However, as pleasant as those descriptions sounded, the man, by no means, was _not_.

"What the hell do you want?" Ichigo gritted out. His feet were apart, ready to pounce and fight at a moment's notice.

"I want you. You look tasty enough." The strange man grinned evilly at the strawberry, revealing long, sharp fangs. The ornamental jawed bone on the side of his face gave a sickly animal-like grin as the male sneered.

Ichigo had said before that he wasn't scared of anything, but now his heart was in a total panic and the redhead trembled slightly. The man in front of him emitted a dark aura and literally screamed 'bloodlust', and the redhead did not want to get a firsthand experience of the teal-haired man's wrath.

As much as the strawberry wanted to fight, Ichigo knew that he wouldn't be able to take this man down; there was something off and ominous about the villain that just gave him the warnings that this man is freakishly dangerous and should be held at arms length.

So Ichigo stepped slightly to the side, and started running as fast as his legs would take him. He had hoped that running past where the man wouldn't be able to reach him would secure his safety, but in a blink of an eye, the flamboyant attacker stopped in front of the redhead's face, pointing a clawed finger right in between the chocolate-colored eyes.

"Leaving so soon? I didn't even give you my name." He laughed, and ran the finger down Ichigo's cheek.

The redhead just stood there, frozen, afraid, and scared for his life. This man was the killer. He _must_ be the killer. The weird hair color, the strange skull ornament, the dark clothing, and the lecherous yet dangerous attitude said it all. Ichigo mentally smacked himself in the head; how could he be so oblivious?!

'…_I'm in such deep shit…' _He thought faintly.

He was going to die. Ichigo just knew it. He could taste it, see it, feel it…

Death was just around the corner for the strawberry now.

The assailant walked closer, invading the young man's personal space further. Ichigo suddenly felt a wave of nausea overwhelm him, and closed his eyes. He felt himself plunging down into the darkness, his own heart trying to leap out of his throat. The strawberry felt as if he was falling, falling down an abyss. But wait…there! There was a speck of light in the distance, and it continued to eat away the dark shadows. Ichigo's own hand moved, trying to hold on to the light, but the hand just dissolved when it touched the rays. He was dissolving…

And then…Silence.

'_So…so this is it, huh? I'm about to kick the fuckin' bucket, aren't I?' _

'_**Correction…that bastard's gonna kick the bucket for ya.'**_

'_You would let him do that to you, Ichigo?'_

'_You would seriously let him kill you in a place like this?'_

'_**Heh, this is such a pathetic place to kill ya. But don't worry; we'll give you a nice funeral fit for a king when your body gets rescued. We'll throw your corpse in a nice little white coffin and present your grave with pretty flowers. How does that sound?' **_

'_That sounds like shit!'_

'_What about your family? …Yuzu would be devastated, you know.'_

'_I know that.'_

'_What about your friends? I don't think Chad will take this lightly…'_

'_I _know_. Shut up and go away.'_

'_**What do **_**you**_** know? You weak, pathetic, ignorant little brat.'**_

'_Shut the fuck up.'_

'_**Tch. Yeah, just keep telling us to shut up, bastard. That's probably all you're good for now. Your empty threats and your empty words…you're scum, Ichigo.'**_

'_Stop acting so arrogant and like you know everything! Just shut up!'_

'…_What about Ishida?'_

Ichigo's head snapped up. Ishida? What in the world made him think of his neighbor? The redhead only met him for a few days, not enough to really know the exotic man.

'_What about him? It's not like he'll miss me.'_

'…_But he _is_ going to miss you. Greatly for that matter.'_

'_**That bloodsucker seems like such a lonely boy, Ichigo. He'll probably bawl his eyes out if you die.' **_

'_What are you getting at? .'_

'_**You dumbass…don't you see? You're probably his only friend since forever. He'll break without you.'**_

'…_I think you're pushing it a little too far.'_

'_**Tch, whatever. It's your blood and flesh that are on the line here.'**_

The redhead whacked his brain; seriously, what about Ishida? They just met a couple of days ago, not enough to even be best buddies. They were like strangers on the same road, only saying 'hello' out of the sake of being polite. So what of it?

Then it hit him.

Ishida never came out at daylight, which is when all friends come out to hang out.

Ishida greeted no one but him ever since he moved here.

Ishida kept giving him sad looks and smiles.

Ishida invited him over to his house and overwhelmed him with warmth as a good host.

Ishida and his shady background and withdrawn personality…

Could it be? Could his conscience possibly be right? Was Uryuu really this secluded being with no friends and company? Did this newly formed 'bond' between them really matter?

No. Ichigo couldn't die like this. He just couldn't…although the strawberry didn't want to admit it, but deep down, he had a feeling that _if _he ended his life right here and right now, Ishida would turn into a mess.

The redhead cursed on how he just made himself sound like a narcissist; those inner voices can really get to him sometimes.

But focusing on the present situation now!

Ichigo's eyes hardened with determination. And with a burst of adrenaline, the angry redhead kneed the murderer in the stomach and took off running again.

The criminal immediately let go and cursed at the retreating form of his prey. And held his stomach, teeth grinding, jaw clenched.

Ichigo ran, panting, scared out of his mind. No way in hell was he going to die here.

'_Not gonna die, I'm not gonna die, I'm not gonna die. C'mon, faster, you moron! Run faster!' _He urged himself.

Blinded by fear and blocked by his thoughts, Ichigo hadn't watched where he was going and –_oof_- ran into a…soft wall.

'_What the hell?!' _The strawberry mentally screamed and instantly panicked again.

The wall was soft and warm though, unlike the hard, icy chest of the murderer. The heat made Ichigo relax, and somehow the redhead thought that whoever this person was, he/she wouldn't hurt him. Ichigo then looked up to thank his 'savior'.

"Ishida?!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**Tsuara: **_Hello, hello, hello!!

How are all of you? Another chapter is done for the this new Ishi/Ichi story~

What didja think?? Crazy right? I admit it was a bit hilarious for Ichigo to be thinking of Uryuu when he's about to get killed, haha. But anyway, hope you enjoyed and catch y'all on the flip side.


	3. Chapter 02: Midnight Mayhem part II

Title: Cutting Edge Charisma

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach, I'm just a fan of it. Just like everyone else.

Rating: Pg-13

**Author note**: (Italics)=thoughts

This chapter also has a new Beta! Yay!

* * *

**Midnight Mayhem:01 (Part II)**

"Ishida, wh-what are you doing here! The killer, he's-" Ichigo rambled and looked behind them but there was no one there. It was if the attacker had vanished into thin air but Ishida knew he was still out there, lurking, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"I was out for a stroll, let's get you home." He pulled the frightened man close.

Ichigo's adrenaline rush had calmed, and his heart beat was steady now. "I know it was the killer, I just know it…" He mumbled, as Uryuu walked with him. He held close to his new friend, never having been that scared in his life. Tonight, he come face to face with death. After walking for a good ten minutes, the two had arrived at Ichigo's home, safe.

"Thank you, thank you so much…" He held the raven haired man's hand tight.

As they were under the porch light he noticed something different about him. He wasn't as pale as a ghost like he was when he last saw him. His cheeks were flushed a wonderful pink and his skin had a healthy glow.

"Will you be alright?" Ishida seemed to whisper.

Ichigo was still clutching his hand. "C-can you j-just…" He pulled the house key from his pocket, opened the door and tugged the man to come in behind him, but Ishida quickly snatched his hand back. Turning around, Ichigo's savior stood just away from the threshold of the door.

"What is it?" Ichigo looked so confused.

The bespectacled man pushed up his glasses, eyes darting from one side to the other.

"Y-you have to invite me in…" he whispered.

"Just come on in, it's fine" Ichigo stepped aside for him to enter.

"Invite me…" He held out his hand, looking deeply into the other man's eyes.

"…please" Ichigo walked outside and took his hand. "Please, come in, Ishida" He said, eyes not breaking contact.

"Thank you for the invitation" Ishida stepped quietly into Ichigo's humble household.

Ichigo peered around the corner to see if anyone was up, but as he had suspected, everyone was asleep.

"Uhm, I know we just met an all but can you…"

Ichigo then gazed almost longingly at the stairs to his bedroom, then to Uryuu, trying his hardest to say it with his eyes. Ishida smiled, he knew what Ichigo wanted of him.

"Would you like me to stay until you fall asleep?"

Ichigo's cheeks were set ablaze instantly, as he nodded, looking down at the floor in embarrassment. Not saying anymore, the Strawberry took his hand and pulled him upstairs.

As Ichigo undressed, readying for bed Ishida waited outside of his bedroom patiently.

After the shy redhead finished, he opened the door. Ishida stepped into his room and looked around. It was warm, homely, humble and quite simple, unlike the one who invited him inside.

Ichigo shut his door and cut off his bedroom light. Only the light of the moon was let in

through his blinds, hitting his face just right, making him look so young.

"How old are you, anyway?" Ichigo asked tucked into his bed.

Sitting on the end of bed with his legs crossed a small playful smile graced his face.

He tilted his head to the side.

"How old do I look?"

Ichigo sat up and moved the covers to the side and crawled closer to his seated friend.

He waited a moment, inspecting, then answered.

"Twenty five, twenty four?"

"You're right, twenty four. Not bad, Kurosaki." Chuckled Ishida. "First

guess, cool." Ichigo chuckled along.

"Thank you again", Ichigo locked eyes with his kind new friend, making him smile ever

so lightly.

"No need to do that Ichigo" , Uryuu's voice was sincere with every word. Their faces

were close, so close they could feel each other's breath.

Uryuu pulled away clearing his throat.

"I-I think you should…uhm get some sleep" Ishida stuttered. His once pale cheeks

were of the light pink variety.

"You're right… goodnight" Ichigo crawled back to his side of the bed and tucked himself back in, and turned on his side, closing his eyes.

Uryuu did as he promised and stayed until the redhead was sound asleep. Then he opened the window ever so softly, and went back to his own house.

* * *

Saturday, waking up, Ichigo slowly sat up and looked around his room. All at once,

the events of the previous night came rushing back to him. He had literally come face to

face with the killer, and his savior. The one he yearned to kissed last night. And what had

gotten into him? Ishida Uryuu, his new neighbor he had met just a few days ago. The man

was such a mystery, an enigma. He touched his lips and blushed.

"Ugh, what the hell is wrong with me!" He screamed aloud.

A knock at his door made him jump. "W-who is it?"

"It's Yuzu, are you alright in there, Ichigo-san?" she asked in that sweet little voice she

always seemed to have.

"Y-Yuzu…I-I'm fine!" He jolted upwards from his bed and opened his blinds, letting the

blinding sun wake him further.

He thought about the killer from last night. He was so strange, intimidating and

frightening looking. As Ichigo stared out the window, thoughts and hopes made him pray

that he'd never run up against anything like that again.

A knock came at his door again and he lazily slid off of his bed and opened the door.

"Breakfast is ready" Yuzu chirped and skipped back downstairs.

Ichigo quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face, then went downstairs. At the breakfast table, there was a display of fine looking pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Today, Yuzu had outdone herself.

"Everyone dig in!" She smiled as both Isshin and Ichigo had grabbed for the top pancake and stared daggers at each other.

"I saw it first…" Isshin growled.

"NO, I saw it first!" Ichigo hissed.

"Let go, elders first!" The older Kurosaki yelled, pushing Ichigo with his hand in his face. "Gimme the damn pancake!" Karin hit both of the men in the head, making both recoil and pout as they began to eat normally, still glancing and giving/receiving death glares.

"How was work last night?" Yuzu asked her brother.

Ichigo stuffed a mouthful of pancake in his mouth before he answered. "Great, great night".

"I'm glad you got home safe, 'cause the news this morning said the killer struck again last night," Karin added .

"I-chi-go!" Isshin jumped from his seat and stood on one knee. "My son, you should quit that job of yours~who needs jobs?" He babbled on, as usual.

Ichigo punched him in the face and put his plate in the sink. He knew his family was worried, and he sure as hell wouldn't tell them about the incident that happened last night.

"I'm going out!" He called, just before leaving and shutting the front door. He looked across the street at his new friend's house, still appreciating what he did so much. He felt he should apologize for his weird behavior, too. Walking across the street, he stepped up on the porch and knocked twice.

No answer.

"_Hmmn… Maybe he's out…"_ Ichigo thought.

He was about to knock once more, then leave it alone, but before he could the door cracked open.

"Who is it?" Called a voice from inside.

The door was only slightly opened and Ichigo could barely see who it was.

"I-I was looking for Ishida, is he-"

"Hold on" The voice said, and swiftly shut the door. A minute later the door opened. Ichigo stood there surprised. There was no one at the door.

"Please, hurry inside and shut the door quickly!" The voice was brash and rough.

Ichigo did as the person asked and hurried inside, closing the door behind him.

"U-Uryuu?"

The house was so dark, he could barely see a thing. He took a few steps forward, holding his hands out, his vision slowly adjusting to the darkness. He walked and walked until he bumped into someone-or perhaps some**thing**-looking up, he knew it was really Uryuu.

"Ichigo, what is it?" whispered Uryuu.

He tried to stay quiet, not wanting to awaken the wrath of his brother.

"Oh! I-uhmn wanted to say thanks again, and sorry that I acted weird… last night…"

He was glad it was dark because then Uryuu couldn't see him blushing like a little school girl.

"You didn't do anything wrong last night, Ichigo." The paler one ran his hand softly down the other's hot cheek. Ichigo flinched as a chill ran down his spine. The warmth he had felt last night had all been gone today. Uryuu quickly removed his hand.

"I'm sorry." He muttered softly.

"N-no, it's just, your hands are cold, that's all." He felt around for the cold hand to hold.

Chuckling nervously, Ishida clasped the wandering hand. "I have anemia."

"Oh, do you tire easily?" The redhead asked, squeezing the hand gently.

"Sometimes."

There were some footsteps being heard from upstairs and Uryuu's blood ran cold.

"Listen, I'll meet with you again later tonight. Would that be okay?" The way Uryuu held his hand was almost desperate.

"O-okay, I'll see you later…"

Ichigo sensed that it was time for him to take his leave. Uryuu nodded and he led Ichigo to the door. With his hand on the door knob, Ichigo wanted to ask of the man one more question, but when he turned around, Uryuu was gone.

He opened the door, blinded by the sunlight, holding his hand over his eyes, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

A frantic knock at the door had woken up the blond. He rolled out of the bed groggily looking at the alarm clock. It flashed 3:13 p.m.

"Damn it, who wakes someone up this early?" he mumbled.

Slouching, and dragging his feet, he finally made it to his door. The knocking continued to get louder and more annoying.

"Alright, alright!" He yelled, flinging the door open.

"Shinji, it's about damn time, you lazy ass bum" Ichigo grinned.

The tall, lanky blond scratched his head. "What the hell do ya want Kurosaki?"

"I need to talk to you about something" He pushed past the blond into the small apartment. Rolling his eyes, Shinji closed the door and sighed.

"I'll make some coffee." He grumbled, shuffling to the kitchen in his long PJs. Ichigo followed, sitting down in one of two chairs at the table in the middle of the small room.

He put some grounded up coffee beans in the coffeemaker and turned it on, then turned on his tape player to assist in waking him up. Smooth jazz played melodically throughout the small kitchen.

Leaning against the counter with his arms folded, he looked at his friend. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" He smiled his signature chestier toothy grin.

"I got attacked last night." Ichigo put his head on the kitchen table in front of him.

"Oh? Sounds fun." Shinji took the now finished coffee from the machine and got two cups, pouring a portion in both.

"Did you get a good look at the guy?" He questioned.

"Yeah, but he ran away when my neighbor came." Ichigo explained, taking the cup that was handed to him.

Raising an eyebrow, the blond sat in the chair across from him.

"Neighbor? Someone finally moved into that house across the street from you, huh?" He took a strong sip from his drink.

"Yeah, Uryuu…" Ichigo stared into his cup, thinking of the man and the other night.

"Oooh, already on a first name bases?" The blond laughed, making the redhead blush and grimace as he took a sip from his coffee.

"Got any sugar?"

Shinji handed him the sugar dispenser.

"Anyway, it's not like that." Ichigo made clear, pouring a little sugar into the bitter liquid that was before him.

"Okay," The older man raised his hands up to show it was a truce. "So, how'd this attacker guy look?"

Ichigo thought before he opened his mouth. "He had these long fangs, and some weird skull ornament on the side of his face…." He wanted to give as much detail as possible.

"Fangs, he could be a werewolf!" Shinji joked, waving his hands for effect.

"Shut up, I'm not joking, he could have killed me!" Ichigo yelled, still quite nervous.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Look…"

The jazz tape stopped and Shinji got up to flip it to the other side.

"…at least you're okay, isn't that enough?"

"Yeah…but you know, that killer is on the loose, that could have been him…"

Looking at the floor, he felt so helpless. Shinji sighed again, and knelt down to where the boy gazed, lifting Ichigo's chin with his long, strong index finger.

"Hey, just worry about being careful, alright?" He looking at the young man almost sympathetically.

"I will, don't worry, Shinji…" The college student looked lovingly at his older friend and mentor.

"I love ya Ichigo," The bright blond grinned, patting the boy lightly on the cheek. "So, tell me more about your boyfriend that you just met, you whore" He teased, changing the subject and sitting back in his seat across from Ichigo.

"Shut the hell up! He's not my boyfriend, he's just my neighbor!" Annoyed, Ichigo crossed his arms.

"He saved you?" the other man asked. Unfolding his arms Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, he did", Shinji studied Ichigo's face, slightly smiling to himself.

He thought to himself; "_I must meet this Uryuu one day, very soon_."

The two talked and talked for a long time. It had been awhile since Ichigo had chatted with his old friend and teacher.

Ichigo, as a senior now in college, Shinji had been one of his first Professors during his earlier undergrad years. He had taught him so much.

"Urahara always uses stories with you in it" Ichigo laughed.

"Yeah? How is that raggedy Ann, anyway?" The two had moved to Shinji's small study.

"He's doing fine, lazy as always."

The long haired man glanced at his watch, then at Ichigo. "Jeez, it's seven already!" He hollered, with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh? I should get going, then." Shinji's former student stood up and hugged him goodbye.

When Ichigo got to his door Shinji grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

"You better not get your ass killed…" He warned. a grim expression suddenly strewn across his face.

Ichigo, a bit frightened at his gloomy face, nodded ever so slightly and took his leave.

* * *

_**Tsuara:**_ Wow~ I didn't forget about this story guys, don't worry!

I apologize for the long, long~~absence!

Isn't Ichigo so cute? Oh, and did I mention that Shinji is kick-ass? I love him!

Thanks so much for checkin' this chapter out! Let me know what ya'll think!

Catch you next chapter!


	4. Chapter 03: Late Date

Title: Cutting Edge Charisma

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach, I'm just a fan of it. Just like everyone else.

*_Beta: Heaven-In-Distress_: A special shout out: You're the queen bee when it comes to editing! Keep rockin' out!

Rating: R

* * *

**Late Date:03**

For some reason, Ichigo was feeling quite fine that evening. So fine, he almost felt like skipping, but he didn't, of course. He had his reputation to keep up with. It had been a long while since he had a good conversation with someone from the past.

When he finally reached his doorstep he took out his key out of his pocket. The evening had been a little chilly, making him shiver lightly. He put the key in and jiggled it but nothing happened.

"Hell…"

"Having some trouble there?" Startled, Ichigo held his chest.

"Jeez Ishida!" The redhead turned and found the pale man holding two cute, cuddly stuffed animals in his arms.

"I didn't mean to startle you yet _again_," The man smiled sheepishly.

Ichigo opened the door, while Ishida still stood outside. "Yeah well, you seem to have a knack for it. Come on in!" The teen went inside and took his shoes off at the door.

The outsider stepped through the threshold, followed the redhead's actions and into the kitchen they went,

where the family was currently getting ready for dinner.

"Uryuu!" Yuzu greeted, hugging him sweetly.

"Yuzu, how are you?"He questioned, still holding the stuffed animals.

"I'm fine… What are those for?" She pointed at a stuffed lion and a stuffed bunny.

"I made these earlier today" He explained, giving one to her.

Karin was busy setting the table, while Isshin slapped the paler young man on the back quite hard, causing him to cough a bit.

"A man with a hobby, I like that!" He grinned from ear to ear.

"Wow, thank you Uryuu, this is amazing!", Yuzu smiled, hugging her stuffed lion.

Uryuu pushed up his glasses, which had nearly fallen from his face from Ichigo's father's charismatic greeting. He walked over to Karin and handed her the stuffed bear with a little bow tie on its chest.

"I made this one, for you" His voice was very soft to her ears.

She looked at the man holding the bear out to her and was instantly intrigued by his eyes. They were dark pools of mystery. "T-Thank you…" She mumbled, blushing ever so lightly.

Yuzu and Ichigo looked at each other with raised eyebrows. They were expecting Karin to diss the man, but she hadn't. That said something about Ichigo's new friend.

"We're about to sit down to dinner, would you like some?"

A slight nervousness washed over the pleasant guest. "I-I already ate, but thanks anyway."Ishida scratched the back of his head as they all went to the table and took a seat. He remained where he was, watching almost carefully.

"Come, sit with us!" Yuzu chirped, gesturing to the table's empty seat.

He felt so much warmth as he sat, witnessing the hustle and bustle of Ichigo's family life. He found it quite charming.

"Ichi-nii, your boss called while you were out." Karin droned, holding a bowl up to her mouth to scoop some rice in.

"Mm? What'd she want?" He asked, mouth full of fish.

"She was just wanted to know if you can pull a late shift again tonight.", Yuzu smiled, a sweet, charming 'ting' to her tone..

"Shit," Ichigo spat under his breath, in which Uryuu heard, and gave him an amused smile. "I'll call her when I'm done."

"So, Ishida, is it?" Isshin bellowed, changing the subject quite rashly.

"Yes, sir."

"Call me dad, everyone does!" He said, smacking his back, earning a slight cough from the smaller man.

Ichigo's eye twitched slightly. He was waiting for the moment his father would say something stupid so he could reach across the table and punch him.

"You seem pretty pale, your nutrition good?" Dad questioned his new "son".

"That's none of your damn business!" Ichigo yelled, slamming his chop sticks to the table.

"Don't talk to me like I'm an imbecile!" Isshin yelled, standing up from his seat, as Ichigo did the same, both glaring daggers. Karin scooted slightly away from the table and Ishida followed her movements while Yuzu sat looking at them worriedly.

"You are an imbecile, stop talking!" Ichigo attempted to punch him in the face but Isshin grabbed his fist and threw him into the living room area. That's when and where their usual nightly dinner brawl started. As they fought, Uryuu leaned in to Karin.

"Is it always like this?" He asked.

She nodded, munching on a cucumber. "Always."

Uryuu looked toward Ichigo's way and winced when he saw the younger Kurosaki get decked in the mouth.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks." Karin furrowed her brows. "Stop it you two, we have company!"

Ichigo was midway to kicking the man in the face when he stopped and looked at Uryuu. Isshin took that as an opening, and abruptly slammed him to the ground. Uryuu, at that moment, came to a conclusion that Ichigo's family was quite… exciting.

* * *

After dinner and chatting, it was bedtime for both the girls and their father. They were all quite sleepy.

Uryuu wished them all goodnight, as he remained sitting at the dinner table.

Ichigo picked up the phone to call his boss. A few rings and he heard her familiar voice.

"Hey." She purred. He could almost see her smiling on the other end of the line. "So, did ya get my message?"

"Sure I did…," he rolled his eyes. "…and, I'll have to come in Saturday"

She made a moan of disapproval, and their conversation was cut short. Ichigo hung up the phone with a small smirk on his face.

"No work tonight?" Uryuu asked, standing from his seat.

The strawberry gave a small gesture in agreement. "Wanna help me with the dishes?" He grinned.

Uryuu nodded and followed Ichigo into the kitchen where he stood next to him, drying the plates and cutlery and putting them away while Ichigo washed. Ichigo carefully reached his hand into the dishwater and pulled his hand back quickly, blood running down his hand.

"Shit!" He hissed.

Uryuu sniffed as he looked in concerned at the younger's hand.

"Let me see?" He asked a bit shakily.

"I think it was a knife, or something, that got me." Ichigo chuckled with clear pain within his voice, holding his hand to the older.

Slightly trembling he held the bloodied hand in his own. Audibly, he swallowed. Ichigo took this as him being squeamish to blood and snatched his hand back.

"I'm going to go fix it, would you mind waiting?" He asked, padding toward the stairs.

"N-not at all," The pale man squeezed his own hand in attempts to push down any hunger he had.

As Ichigo went up stairs the remaining one stared at some of the blood droplets that had fallen on the kitchen counter next to the sink. Running his finger across, he took the red, irony liquid into his mouth, sucking his finger slightly.

"What are you doing?"

Uryuu flinched, startled and looked down at the dark haired girl, Karin.

"Uhmn..I was…"

He took his finger out of his mouth, eyes downcast to the floor. She looked at him questioningly then dropped her stare to go into the fridge to get some juice. She poured some in a cup and then closed the refrigerator.

"Thanks for the bear…" A soft mumble through her cup.

"I-It's no bother." He smiled nervously.

Soon, Ichigo came downstairs, hand disinfected and as good as new. "Karin! What are you doing up?"

"I getting some goddamn juice!" She almost yelled, eying her brother, a little irritated.

Taken slightly aback Ichigo passed her to stand next to Uryuu.

"Wanna head home, or spend the night?"

"I think heading home is the best option," He concluded, staring at the girl as she stared back at him.

"Okay. Karin, since you're up, finish those dishes for me." Ichigo smirked, following Ishida to the door. "And be careful, there's a killer knife in there!"

Going from one porch light to another, the two took the small trip across the street to Uryuu's house, where it was pitch black.

"How is your hand?" He pointed.

Ichigo clenched and unclenched his hand into a fist. "It's like new," He said, showing him the bandaged hand, in which Uryuu took to examine.

Looking down at his face he notice Ichigo had a small cut over his eyes.

"You're just full of cuts and bruises, aren't you?" He mumbled and without a thought, kissed the bruise over the red head's eyes. Ichigo winced, his bandaged hand moving to the paler one's cheek.

"I didn't even know that one was there!" He laughed, blushing at their closeness. "Thanks for helping with the dishes, by the way…" Ichigo took his hand away and cleared his throat.

"It was no problem…"

The two were still in close proximity of each other, but neither looked like they minded at all.

Uryuu leaned down closer to Ichigo's lips, and stopped midway as Ichigo's breath hitched. He pulled back, settling for just holding his hand gently.

"D-do you want to hang out tomorrow night?" Ichigo, face beat red, blurted out.

"Nothing would bring me more pleasure, then to be in your company." Ishida took Ichigo's hand and brought it to his lips to kiss.

Now Ichigo really felt embarrassed. "I feel like I'm in a Jane Eyre novel…"

Uryuu, this time, could not bit back his laughter.

"Tomorrow night, then?" Ichigo's hand easily slipped out of Uryuu's, as he inched back home.

"Yes, I will be by your house." Uryuu assured and off they went, to their separate quarters, without another word. Not even a simple 'goodnight'.

* * *

"R-Renji, this is ridiculous~" The red headed young man stared at himself in complete, utter horror in the mirror.

The man was decked out in ripped blue jeans with mismatched colored patches at the knees, and a horrible green shirt.

"This is like the grunge look, right?" Renji held his chin in his hand looking over his work.

"No, this is the shit look, I'm taking this off!" Ichigo retorted angrily, stripping from his shirt and jeans, down to his boxers.

"If he really likes you he won't care _**WHAT**_ you're wearing."

"Let me borrow your black skinny jeans."

Ichigo was getting a little frustrated at his friend's nonchalant way of getting ready for a nice outing in town, they had already spent all day trying on different outfits.

"Fine, what else do ya need?"

The two were in Renji and Rukia's apartment, rummaging through their big closet, which was located in the master bedroom. Ichigo looked over the many shirts his friend had.

"Mmm, that blue and white small tee-shirt looks kinda nice…" He pulled it out, smiling a bit.

"Remind me to take you shopping for _**YOUR OWN CLOTHES**_!" Renji playfully slapped him on the back.

"Hey, I'm a college student with a low paying job, I'm poor!" Ichigo replied, slipping on the shirt and pulling on the jeans.

"You should probably wear some briefs with those tight jeans."

Ichigo took them off and put his street clothes back on. "Thanks, Renji, "He was very grateful to his friend for helping him out at the last minute.

"It's no big thing, I hope you enjoy your _date._" He grinned maniacally, wagging his fancy eyebrows.

"S-Shut up… It's not a date." The Strawberry blushed, looking away, pretending to gaze upon any other shirts in Renji's closet.

"Uh huh, and these tattoos aren't real." He smirked, pointing to his ink, then folding his arms against his chest.

"I think it's time I go!" Ichigo yelled, throwing a shirt at his friend in a playful manner.

Renji laughed after the tee hit him in the face gently. "Yeah, alright, Princess, take care!" He called, as Ichigo left through the door.

"You too!"

As the carrot top walked down the sidewalk, his cell phone began buzzing off the hook.

"Moshi Moshi?"

"Ichii-niiiiiii, he's here, where are you?" Yuzu, from the sound of the voice.

"Shit! I'm almost home, stall him for me, would you?"

"Okay, just hurry!"

And the call was ended with Ichigo jogging down the street at top speed, taking shortcuts through various yards to make things even quicker. Jumping through bushes, gardens and over stumps, he ran like the wind. He couldn't't be late for this, he just couldn't. Home was so near, he could almost smell it, and with a turn at a small corner, he was there. Up ahead, he could see Ishida talking with Yuzu. She was laughing with him, and he with her. It would have been a darling snapshot moment.

He ran up to them panting. "S-Sorry, sorry, I'm late." He leaned over, hands on his knees. He had practically run five miles to get home at such a decent time. He looked at Ishida, face sweaty and wet, then gave Yuzu a thankful glance. That was her cue to head back into the house.

"Do you mind if I freshen up?" Ichigo had managed to finally catch his breath.

"Sure. Go right ahead, I shall be right here, waiting." Uryuu smiled.

That was the first thing Ichigo had noticed about him; smiling. He always smiled, and he never noticed any other expression on his face when he saw him. He would have offered him wait in the house but he had a feeling the offer would be declined, so he went into the house alone, to quickly freshen up and change into his borrowed clothes.

Charging back down the stairs after a good five minutes, he looked towards his two sisters.

"Yuzu, Karin! When dad gets back, tell him I'm hanging out with Uryuu." He pointed at the now opened door where the man was patiently waiting for him.

"Sure, have fun!"

"Thanks" He said, stepping out of his estate, closing the door behind him.

Once he stepped foot outside, Uryuu gave him a full glance-over. Ichigo was decked in black skinny jeans and the striped white and blue shirt he had borrowed from Renji.

"You look rather ravishing, Kurosaki." The raven complimented.

Ichigo's face was ablaze, as he turned away from his friend. "T-Thanks…" He coughed, trying to be discreet.

Ishida pushed up his glasses, as if to hide some inside intent. "Are you nervous?"

"Huh, me? No way!" The redhead laughed it off.

"That's quite a convincing answer."

"Shut up!" Ichigo's response caused light laughter to emit from the two.

"Where…Uhmn… Where do you want to go?" The nervous twenty three year old asked.

"How about a movie? I heard about a Kurosawa marathon going on at a theatre nearby."

"Ah! I love Kurosawa films. Let's go!"

Ichigo's nervousness was put on the backburner, as he grabbed Ishida's arm. He pulled his bespectacled friend along until the theatre was found. It wasn't very hard because there was a big red and purple sign with 'Kurosawa' written big in Japanese writing in the middle of town. Ichigo had offered, but Uryuu begged to pay for the tickets, and in the end, the raven haired man had won. He bought the tickets and they took their seats toward the back of the theatre.

They sat in complete comfort for about three and a half hours, watching classic samurai action.

As they sat watching, both were glued to the giant movie screen. The theatre they were in was actually quite full and when famous lines from the samurai movies came on screen Ichigo excitedly mouth along with it. He loved Kurosawa films. Sometimes he wished he could have grown up in such a heroic time.

Uryuu, on the other hand, enjoyed the mastery of the director's story telling. It was quite thrilling to watch and it was a plus that he was there enjoying it with Ichigo.

Later on that night, after the movies, they stopped by an ice cream stand.

"I'll buy you a cone, since you bought the tickets." Ichigo smiled.

"Thank you, but I can't." Uryuu waved off.

"Why?" Ichigo looked a bit worried.

"I'm l-lactose intolerant." Uryuu said, stiffening as he pushed up his glasses.

Ichigo seemed to have stared at him for a while before making his reply. "That's too bad…" He ordered himself a chocolate cone and the two walked once more.

"So, do you have a girlfriend, Kurosaki?" Uryuu asked out of the blue.

The strawberry almost chocked on his ice cream cone when he heard those words.

'_You just tried to kiss me last night, and you're asking me that NOW!' _He thought. "I-I've dated…" He mumbled, chewing on some of the ice cream as a distraction to himself.

"So… No?" Uryuu chuckled.

Ichigo shook his head. "What about you?"

"Oh, I've had a few in my day. But no one now."

"Ha! You sound like an old geezer!" Ichigo laughed jokingly.

Uryuu's lips formed a half evil smirk. "Hnn, maybe I am. " He snorted.

"Psssht! Riiiight."

* * *

Soon, and oddly enough, they had wandered their way back into their own neighborhood. Ichigo had just finished his ice cream cone when they strode up to Uryuu's door. The raven breathed a comfortable sigh.

"This was nice," He smiled, eyes narrowed happily.

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" Ichigo smiled back.

Uryuu looked at his door as if trying to sense something, then asked, "Would you… Like to come in?

"Didn't your brother want to kill me for touching the place?" Ichigo almost paled as he thought about Byakuya.

"He's not home, he won't be back until tomorrow evening."

He opened the door to the old house and stood aside, beckoning the teen to enter. Ichigo cautiously took one step in and found that it was clear, only then did he take his shoes off respectably.

"Mind giving me a tour of the place?" He asked, now risen and walking to where his friend was, near the living room.

"I would be delighted." Uryuu whispered in his ear. "Follow me upstairs and we will start from there." He gently tugged on Ichigo's hand, beginning to lead him up the stairs.

Nearing the top of the stairs, the young man thought the downstairs area was miraculous, but when they had reached the top steps it was like he was inside an old Japanese home from the eighteenth century. It was amazing, yet strange at the same time. Judging from the outside, one wouldn't't suspect to see anything like this.

"I guess that saying, 'don't judge a book by it's cover' rings true here, huh?" He commented to Uryuu.

"What do you mean?" Asked the second master of the house.

The redhead was too mesmerized by the rooms to even hear what the man was saying. Letting the other's hand go he let him wander from room to room, venturing into each world, and watched him as he gasped at times in awe, or picked something up to let his fingers memorize what it was. He even ventured into the bathroom and found that quite amazing.

Ichigo looked at the clean porcelain bathtub, which was totally out of place compared to the rest of the Japanese style house. He took interest in the porcelain white sink with silver facets, but there was something missing, he noticed, that all bathrooms usually have. A mirror. There was a beautifully embroidered mirror casing, but no actual mirror was there. It was just a wall. He turned to Uryuu, who was smiling at him by the bathroom entrance.

Ichigo looked at him, puzzled. "There's no mirror." He stated, pointing at the silver embroidered casing.

Suddenly the smile grew slightly smaller. "We don't have much use for mirrors here."

"Don't you ever look at yourself?" Ichigo asked.

"No, I don't suppose I need to." Uryuu replied, looking at the younger.

"How do you fix your hair, or know if you look alright?" He pushed on the subject.

"The truth is, I don't really like looking at myself in the mirror."

Brushing the subject out of mind, the carrot continued to explore the house, until he had made it to a certain someone's room. It was all but humble, extremely eclectic, and did not match the theme of the rest of the upstairs. He stepped foot into it and instantly, was hit with such intensity. The room had a bright, almost sunny feeling to it. It felt like a sanctuary.

The bed was medium sized and looked ever so comfortable ,with the bright blue comforters and pillows. All this somehow coming together with the intensity of the large white room. The walls were covered with many drawings of different clothes, and of people wearing them. Another thing that stood out, was the lifeless mannequins that scattered the room with dresses, outfits, and elaborate costumes.

"Did-did you…?" The teen's eyes scanned each mannequin slowly, carefully.

"Yes, I made these." Uryuu's fingers pale and lengthy ran their way through a silken made dress on one of the emotionless, empty dolls.

Ichigo had never seen such amazingly made clothing in his life, it almost felt like he was at an expensive fashion boutique in Shibuya, Tokyo. He was so entranced by the dresses, that he suddenly wished his sister, Yuzu, was here to see them. He was aware of her interest in making and designing clothing. She always made them for her little stuffed animals, and he knew her face would light up if she got a glimpse of these treasures.

"These are amazing Uryuu… You've made so many!"

"I'm glad you're enjoying them, I get bored sometimes so…" He took his fingers from the silken dress.. "…I make clothes."

Ichigo wandered to one of Uryuu's dressers, and found an old record player that looked fairly used. He turned the knob on it and put the needle on the record. Soon, the room filled with a light, whimsical piano music, bring such careful ease to the air.

"Shall we dance?" Uryuu asked, extending his pale hand to Ichigo.

The boy placed his hand in his and soon, the two were dancing slowly to the tempo of the song. Ichigo was pulled into his chest as Uryuu softly hummed the song. He could feel the warmth of the other's chest, and the low rumble of his humming.

The record switched to a more lively song, and Uryuu stopped their previous dance to twirl Ichigo on his toes. The two laughed as the song played it's magical, soon stopping, and having the pair fall to the floor in pointless laughter. It was probably the hardest laugh either had had in such a long time.

"W-Why were we… dancing?" He had to catch his breath as he spoke.

"Tonight felt like a good night to dance." A few strands of Ishida's dark hair fell over his eyes. His dark hair, indeed accented the paleness of his skin. A small glance from Ichigo turned into a gaze and he saw him in a whole other light.

The younger college student moved to brush the hair back in place, until Uryuu reached up and grabbed his hand gently, causing him to blush lightly.

"Thank you for the wonderful dance…" The raven breathed.

Ichigo couldn't stop staring at his lips, he wondered how soft they were. His question was soon answered when he felt them gently press down, ever so softly, on top of his hand.

"No p-problem. I-It was fun…" Ichigo gave a nervous laugh, feeling his cheeks heat up.

Uryuu ran his cool hand down the side of one of his cheeks, making him lean into the comforting touch. The Strawberry felt a bit shaky from the nervousness that was racking his body.

"You're really quite beautiful." The other man said, softly looking down into Ichigo's brown eyes intently.

"I wouldn't say that…." A deathly nervous laugh erupted from his throat.

He fell even more silent as Uryuu's other pale hand caressed his other cheek, and again, he found himself entranced at the other's soft features.

He gave Ichigo a small peck on the forehead, then his cheek, until he arrived at his lips, which he claimed in a fury. A small moan erupted from the redhead, causing Ishida to pull back quickly.

"I-I'm sorry, was I too… forward?" He asked, cautiously looking at the other.

"No…No, I was enjoying it." Ichigo reassured, grasping his hand for added effect. He then looked over at Uryuu's unusual, out of place bed. It was a canopy style bed, with soft white drapes above to cover the outside world from what was inside. Ichigo rose a bit and peeked inside the draperies, deciding to venture onto the bed, disappearing from view. Uryuu smiled to himself, as he followed Ichigo inside his canopy bed.

"This is a good place to play house!" Ichigo joked.

"Yes, a very good place." Uryuu smiled at him.

Ichigo couldn't resist the urge, now, to come back to those smiling, soft lips. He crawled over to the man, the bedding underneath soft like clouds.

"I-I like… Kissing you." He confessed rather quietly.

Uryuu look at him for only a few second before putting both hands gently onto the teen's face, and pulling him onto his lap as he leaned against the headboard of his bed. Ichigo inched in slowly, until Uryuu reclaimed his lips once more.

As the kiss became more heated, with each stroke and each breath, Ichigo found himself smashed against the other, almost as if they had been melded together. Hormones getting the best of him, he gently nudged his hips more into the raven, causing a burst of pleasure to erupt between his legs. Moaning, he relinquished the pair of now reddened lips, parting with a small string of beaded of saliva between them.

As Ichigo caught his now panting breath, Uryuu's mouth wandered to Ichigo's exposed neck, dropping small kisses down toward the nape, breathing in the carrot's scent and savoring the taste he sipped. Suddenly, small white fangs appeared and pierced the tan flesh beneath. Moaning in pleasure, Ichigo did not notice what was going on, as blood bubbled above the surface of the wound. Uryuu 's tongue lapped at the oncoming fluid, unconsciously, before pulling back, almost completely disgusted.

"Why did you stop?" Ichigo whimpered.

Uryuu looked at Ichigo's neck in horror. In all the kissing and lust filled within the air, he did not realize what his body was doing. He held a hand to his mouth as he licked the blood off his lips. The last thing he wanted was to reveal what he had done to the young man before him.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo looked on in concern.

"I… You'd better go, it's late." He mumbled, not wanting to look up.

"What?" Ichigo cried in disagreement.

"LEAVE!" Uryuu yelled, shakily, looking to Ichigo angrily.

The confused redhead slipped off of the bed silently, and headed toward the bedroom door, looking back with concern ridden eyes, then left.

Uryuu turned towards the door, sadness washing over him. He shook his head in disappointment at himself.

The feeling was so overwhelming, he almost felt like crying, he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. Leaning his head back, his mouth slightly open, he tried to stop them, as his fangs slipped back into place.

A single red tear slipped down and hit the comforter on the bed. It was times like these, that he hated being what he was, and wished nothing more than to be human once again.

* * *

_**Tsuara: **_Whoa! Whoa! Stuff just got real! Right? Well, girls and boys. I hope you liked this wicked stupid chapter (That means cool in Brooklynese), it was hella fun to write!

I'd like to thank Radiohead for making Idioteque. That song really suites Uryuu a lot! Kubo picked a great song for him, and Nat King Cole for making 'Unforgettable'. I play that song when I write Uryuu's makin' googly eyes at Ichigo.

Anyways, keep it real and let me know what ya think if you want.

Catch you next chapter!


	5. Chapter 04: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Title: Cutting Edge Charisma

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, I'm just a fan of it. Just like everyone else.

*Beta: Heaven-In-Distress: Who is number one!

Rating: R+

**Warning: **Extreme song subject mentioning children,

Blood, as well as sexual content.

* * *

**Let Sleeping Dogs Lie:04**

The rest of that night and the night after, the red tears flowed, dried, and then flowed again. Uryuu didn't quite know what to do. In all the years he had lived, he hadn't understood how things could get so complicated so quickly. Downstairs he heard the front door gently open, and then shut and he knew his brother had returned. Slowly slipping off his bed, he went out of his room and into the hallway, where he made his way downstairs to greet him. As Byakuya took off his coat, he looked up to see his brother's pale face streaked with blood.

"You look ghastly." He murmured.

Uryuu bit back a few more oncoming tears and shrugged. Byakuya, knowing his brother well, sighed and walked over to him. He delicately wiped the tears that were welling up in his brother's eyes and took a handkerchief from his dress jacket to finish wiping his reddened face.

"Stop that crying." He mumbled coldly. "You're eighty nine years old, for god's sake."

"One is never too old to shed a few tears, brother." Uryuu smirked, despite his sadness.

Byakuya looked down at him as if thinking of something more to say. Instead of retorting, he turned his back on the younger sibling.

"Clean up and then come to my study, I have something for you."

Uryuu said no more and bowed, moving upstairs to wash all of the remaining memories that had happened between he and Ichigo. As he showered, he stared at one of his hands and an image of him touching Ichigo ever so erotically flashed through his thoughts. The same pale hand slipped between his legs, but he stopped. A feeling of dirtiness washed over him once again, and his face flushed from the steam of the shower and impure thoughts. He wished to no end that he could run to the redhead's house, embrace him, and apologize. He didn't like keeping secrets and hiding in the dark like a monster; he wanted to tell the teen the truth.

He cut the shower off and watched as nothing but water ran down the drain. He wasn't really dirty to begin with, though feeling the warm heat of the water hit his skin just felt really nice to him. Drying himself off, he put on a fresh pair of clothes and went to his brother's study.

He slid open the door and closed it behind him, switching his mind to focus on what sort of 'gift' his older sibling had in store for him. In the room, Uryuu found an older man that looked to be in his late forties standing next to Byakuya, who was sitting in his chair, hands folded in his lap.

"W-what is it that you wanted from me brother?" He cast his eyes to the floor, not daring to look into Byakuya's eyes.

"This man is Kenji Satou. Satou-san, this is my brother." Byakuya introduced the man in a polite tone that also held a fair bit of coolness.

"N-nice to meet you, Satou-san." Uryuu pushed up his glasses and looked the man in the eyes.

He could smell and see the fear seeping out of his body. Byakuya smiled, looking from Kenji to Uryuu, and then he spoke again.

"Satou-san likes to molest children, brother, isn't that something?"

Kenji visibly flinched, as Uryuu looked at him in slight disbelief.

"H-how do you know?" Uryuu asked, eyeing his brother.

"I caught him." Byakuya's lips curled into a frightening scowl as he glared into the rapist.

"P-p-p-please! I-I've learnt my lesson, let me go!"

The convicted man fidgeted with his hands in front of him, fear deeply set into his pupils. Suddenly, Yuzu and Karin flashed through Uryuu thoughts and his frown was equally as ferocious as Byakuya's. The elder of the brothers stood up from his chair and wrapped his delicate fingers around the man's neck gently.

"I don't think we believe you, Satou-san," he murmured before baring his fangs behind the man.

Before Kenji could think, Byakuya ripped into the side of his throat quite viscously, holding his neck tightly. Eventually pulling away with a loud groan, he held onto the man's strangling body. The man couldn't do anything but gurgle up blood as he went into shock from the pain.

"Come drink, I know you're hungry…" The long haired figure beckoned with his free hand.

The bespectacled one stepped slowly to the other side of the other man's neck and bit into it harshly, his fangs already having had come out while watching his brother. As he let the blood slip into his mouth and down his throat, he saw. He saw everything that had happened in Kenji Satou's life, even the children he cruelly tricked into his lecherous grasp. Having had enough, Ishida jerked back panting and shaking terribly.

"I-I'm done." He whimpered, almost in pain, as blood dripped down his chin and onto his clean white shirt.

Byakuya dropped the now limp corpse onto the ground and went to his distraught sibling and gathered him in his arms, something one would not believe such a man like Byakuya would ever do.

"He did terrible things," He squeezed the smaller's body a bit. "That's why he had to die, little bother."

Uryuu cried, holding tightly to his brother. He hated feeding from the wicked; he could see everything they had done once he had drunk enough. Once again that night, Byakuya wiped away his oncoming tears.

"You always do this…" He whispered, licking the red tears off of his thumb.

Switching off to loving brother mode he stood up and looked down at the depressed being below him.

"Quit sniveling and help me clean this mess up." He reached behind a tall bookcase and produced a shovel.

* * *

Morning had arrived and Ichigo jolted out of bed, sweat running down his face, body slightly shaken and aroused. He had just awakened from a very stimulating wet dream, one which guest starred his pale, enigmatic friend from across the street. He slowed his breathing and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He held his head in his hands in deep thought, thinking back to what had happened a few nights ago.

"_I wonder if I pushed it too far…." _He thought, blushing in shame.

He had noticed himself acting differently around Uryuu, and it truly scared him. He lazily glanced at his clock, and that semi relaxed mood he currently had turned into panic; he was about to be late for class.

Showering really well, then clothing, grabbing a piece of toast was his plan for getting out the house, but once he completed the first two tasks, the third one managed to be quite hard to complete. Once he grabbed the toast he had to dodge a punch from his father.

"Good morning, my son! Why bother going to school when you're late?" He yelled, cackling crazily and kicking at Ichigo, who was dodging every blow.

"I _**will**_ be late if you don't get out of my way, old man!" Ichigo retorted angrily.

"O-old man? Old man… ka-sa~n! Look what our son thinks of me! He doesn't even respect me!" Isshin cried, crawling over to the mini shrine of his late wife.

Saying goodbye to his sisters and putting his toast in his mouth, Ichigo took that as his cue to jet out the door. He made it to class without a minute to spare; he couldn't believe he was almost late over a dream. The class was unusually full that day, maybe it was because Urahara had to give out sheets about their brand new writing assignment.

"Ah, I'm glad everyone decided to show up today!" The blonde smiled, seeing all of his students looking up at him. "Today we will have a small lecture, and then I will give you the writing assignment, which will be due in four weeks, is that alright with everyone?"

"Yeees." A few people drawled while the rest of the students sat at their seats in silence.

Nodding the light blonde professor took his chalk and wrote one word on the blackboard:

'**Vampire'**

"Now, can anyone tell me the first thing that pops in their head when you see this word?" He asked, placing the chalk down in the chalk holder.

For some reason, Ichigo thought of Uryuu.

"Bats!" One student yelled.

"Women!" A male student yelled, and a few of the other male students giggled.

"Junichi!" Another student yelled, pointing at a strikingly pale Japanese student.

"Shut up!" The paler boy yelled, throwing paper at the one who called his name.

"Yes, yes! These are all good," Urahara said. "This is what out assignment will be based on; this word!" He pointed at the big 'V' word on the board. "I heard someone say 'women'," He smirked towards the class. "Do you believe that vampires are real?"

"Of course not..." Ichigo mumbled.

"Why do you think that, Kurosaki-san?" Ichigo was caught off guard because he didn't think the man had heard him.

"I mean, people who walk around drinking blood, fearing the sunlight and not having a reflection? Of course they aren't real." He explained.

"Have you ever seen one?" The blonde questioned.

"No, that's exactly why they don't exist. No one has any proof that they do."

"Oh? Hm… but there is proof in early history of people seeing vampires," Urahara retorted.

"Whatever..." Ichigo sighed, not feeling like going head to head with his professor at the moment.

"What I was getting at, ladies and gentlemen, is to never rule out something as 'non-existent'. The assignment I'm going to give you is focused on this word. What does this word mean to you, what is the personification of this word?"

Everyone wrote down every word he said.

"Now, I'll pass out the syllabus for this assignment and then that'll be all for today." He finalized.

He passed out the syllabus, which was on a single pink sheet of paper, to everyone and once he was finished, people began to leave. As they all filed out the room, Ichigo stayed behind. He held the paper and looked at the man.

"This is ridiculous! What made you want to give us this assignment?" Ichigo asked, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"These sudden string of murders." The response was laced with darkness.

"Wh-What..?" The carrot was taken back a bit.

"Think about it, Ichigo; the reports say that their throats where ripped out, it happens at night, and the bodies are found in darkened alleyways, varying in ages." Urahara replied, collecting his books and putting them into his satchel.

Ichigo had a flashback to his attacker; the strange looking man that looked as though he wanted him for dinner.

"It could be a crazed, horrific serial killer too." Ichigo attempted to reason with his teacher _**and**_ his own wandering mind.

"Mm… That too, I guess." The grungy blond agreed. He patted him on the shoulder and went back behind his desk to pack more of his things for his following class. "I can't wait to see what you come up with, Kurosaki-san!" He grinned rather cryptically.

Ichigo nodded, and saying a few departing words, he left to his next class.

* * *

After school, Ichigo dropped by Renji and Rukia's apartment to give back his tattooed friend's clothes. One knock on the door was all it took, and the door flung open with a crazy grinning man on the other end.

"H~ey!" Yelled Renji, yanking Ichigo into his apartment.

"What the hell!" The bright orange haired man cried, stumbling.

There he found Orihime, Chad, and Rukia enjoying some lunch in the living room.

"Ichigo's here!" Renji announced, taking a seat on the couch next to his roommate, Rukia.

"I got your clothes cleaned..." Ichigo threw the jeans and shirt at his friend.

"How'd it go?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah, tell us!" Orihime clapped.

Chad stayed silent and Rukia smiled. Ichigo didn't really like telling his business to anyone, but by the way they were looking at him, he seemed to have had no choice.

"It went… well." He stammered.

"Is he nice?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah."

"Did you fuck him?" Rukia drawled, looking a little uninterested.

Ichigo almost stumbled back in shock. Orihime held her hands to her mouth while Chad looked only slightly shocked at Rukia's words.

"Eehehe…" He scratched the back of his head.

"I-I got some homework to do..." He headed toward the door but was stopped by Renji, who was smiling at him evilly.

"Where the hell do ya think yer goin'?" He pulled Ichigo back into the room.

Blushing, Ichigo sat on the floor arms folded against his chest. He really did not want to talk.

"Well?" Renji raised an eyebrow.

"We j-just…"

Ichigo began, but was gratefully interrupted but Chad standing and politely excusing himself. He took that as his excuse to leave as well. "Chad! I'll go with you!"

He grabbed his bag and Chad's hand, jetting out of the apartment. Standing outside of the place Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Didn't feel like talking?" Sado murmured, looking downwards at his old friend.

"You know me." Ichigo grinned brightly.

"You didn't really sleep with him, did you?" The tall man suddenly asked, his voice slightly tinged with jealousy.

"Of course not!" Ichigo glared at him.

Sado gave an apologetic smile and nodded. Sighing. Ichigo ruffled his own hair, letting out some frustration in his own strange way.

"We just… kissed. Then he told me to leave all of a sudden." He explained as they walked down the sidewalk into town.

"Really, just like that?"

"Yeah," The redhead mumbled almost sadly. "I've been wondering if I should talk to him or not."

"Maybe you should talk to him." The brunette suggested.

"Maybe your right… But still; the thought of dating a guy is still a little weird to me…" He confessed.

"Don't you like him?" Sado's head perked up hearing such strange words. "Is it weird to like someone you've just met?" Nervously, Ichigo managed to laugh a bit. "You can't stop attraction; it can come anytime, anyplace." The taller one gently placed a hand on the shorter one's shoulder. "I hope everything works out for you, though." He smiled, putting on a perfect mask from his hideous jealousy.

"T-Thanks Chad…" Ichigo grabbed his childhood friend's hand and then embraced it in a tight hug.

"Do you need me to walk you home?" Sado asked.

"Nah, I got it." Ichigo shrugged, and the two parted ways with no other words spoken.

* * *

As Ichigo made his way home, feeling rather odd. Looking at his watched, he cursed at how late it had gotten.

"7:55 pm already?"

He frowned and shrugged his book bag up his shoulder and continued to walk down the silent street to his house. All of a sudden, a surge of paranoia hit him when he thought about his history professor's inspiration for their assignment.

"_The reports say that their throats where ripped out, it happens at night, and the bodies are found in darkened alleyways, varying in ages."_

He cringed at the thought of himself being found, limbs twisted up, in a alleyway trashcan with his throat hanging open. Tightening the grip on his book bag strap, he heaved a sigh of hidden fear as he continued his long trek home. Concentrating on his walking, the ringing phone in his pocket startled him instantly.

Ichigo reached down into his pocket to retrieve the small device.

"Ichi-nii, Uryuu's here to visit you. Where the hell are you?" Karin drawled over the phone. She seemed to be so uninterested in everything, unless it was soccer related.

"I'm walking home, smart ass." He snorted on his end.

"Well, I'll tell him-" Ichigo interrupted her by yelling.

"HAND HIM THE PHONE!"

She held the plastic phone away from her ear as he yelled and frowned. She looked at Uryuu, who was chatting with her little sister, Yuzu, in the living room and called to him to come get the phone. Looking up, he walked into the hallway to answer it.

"H-hello?"

Ichigo smiled. "Hey…," He couldn't think of anything clever to say. "…Uhmn… Did you want something?"

Uryuu looked down at the receiver. "My plan was to come and apologize to you, but it seems you're away…"

"Seems so," Ichigo chuckled a bit.

As the redhead walked, he felt a little at ease while talking to his love interest on the other end. "Actually, _I_ wanted to apologize to you."

"I was the one who pushed you away…" Uryuu's smiled dropped a little. "I want to say sorry for acting strangely." Ichigo stayed silent as he listened to Uryuu's words. "It's been a little while since I've… dated." The raven blushed.

"Well, we can take things slow if you want." The teen laughed. He didn't care one bit that Uryuu was uncomfortable with dating; so was he.

"That would be nice."

As Ichigo walked home, Uryuu kept him company on the phone until he was only a few steps away from the house.

"Ah! I can see you!" Uryuu said over the phone, gazing out from the front door window.

He hung up the phone as the redhead opened the door and called to the others he had arrived home.

Yuzu ran up and hugged him while Karin patted him on the back.

"Where's dad?" Ichigo looked around, body preparing for a surprise kick from his old man.

"He had an emergency at the Tokyo hospital," Karin explained. "He'll be back Sunday morning."

"_Great!"_ Ichigo thought to himself, remembering that the current day was Friday. This meant a day without his dad's shenanigans.

"Daddy left you in charge!" Yuzu sang, setting the table for dinner.

"Ah, you guys are practically adults, you don't need me." He murmured, taking off his shoes.

"You try tellin' dad that." Karin grunted unpleasantly. Having only male friends was rubbing off on her grammar.

"I'm gunna skip dinner tonight, guys, I had a big lunch." Ichigo turned to his little sisters apologetically.

"Are you hungry, Uryuu?" Karin turned to the silent man. Ichigo turned to him too. He felt like a giant spotlight was being caste down upon him.

"No, I'm not. Thank you for asking." he replied coolly.

"Are you a vegetarian or something?" Yuzu asked as he raised a questioning brow at her.

"_On the contrary, I eat cute little girls like you for lunch!"_ He joked inwardly.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well, you always decline our dinner invite, is all." She said, spooning some beef into her bowl of rice.

Ichigo looked at Uryuu and saw he was a little uncomfortable and patted him on the back.

"Yuzu, mind your business. Uryuu, let's go." He quickly began to run up the stairs.

"Ichi-nii!" She cried, puffing her cheeks as she watched her brother and friend head upstairs.

* * *

"So, how was your day?" Ishida stood outside as Ichigo changed into his PJs.

The carrot swiftly opened the door, wearing only his pajama bottoms which teasingly showed his Adonis lines. Uryuu slightly gapped, face ablaze, but he managed to close his mouth almost as rapidly as it had opened.

"You don't have to stand outside, you know." Ichigo teased, elbowing him. "I don't have anything you haven't seen before."

Ichigo went back into room to grab the other half of his sleepwear as Uryuu eyed him from behind.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that…" He said silkily.

Hearing this, the other man quickly put on his shirt, and got out some books from his book bag.

Stuttering, Ichigo decided to answer the question he asked before. "M-My day was good," He cleared his throat. "I had a few classes."

"Oh? What's your major?" Uryuu asked, sitting at the end of the owner of the room's bed.

"History," The redhead answered quickly.

Uryuu found that quite interesting. "What, in history, do you specialize in?"

"Mm, I'm quite interested in Japanese world relations and surprisingly…" "He turned to Uryuu with a slightly seductive smirk. "…sexuality…"

A loud laugh suddenly erupted from Uryuu which surprised Ichigo. "Sexuality?" He asked. "Don't you need a little experience in sexuality first?" The joke, made Ichigo blush from ear to ear and rise from his sitting position.

"N-No, shut up; How would you know if I'm experienced or not!" He almost yelled, face visibly dark red in colour.

The older man sitting on his bed stood up, looking down at the one he had angered and collected him into a calming hug.

"I was only kidding; I didn't mean to offend you…" He whispered comfortingly into his ear.

Ichigo, still blushing, stood there; arms shakily coming up to return the hug. "Yeah, well, you're an awful comedian."

"Maybe you can teach me to be better…"

The bespectacled man ran his pale finger across the pink lips of the one he found interest in. Ichigo had to admit he had missed such actions and was now eager to get back to Uryuu's tantalizing mouth. Perhaps now was his best chance. He captured the lips he longed for, his arms massaging their way up the other's shirted back. Ishida wasn't one for denying the truth from himself, and at that moment, he felt he really could have the attractive redhead, but his better self decided against it. The smell of Ichigo's arousal had sent his senses haywire and he could feel the heat building up in the other man as he dipped his tongue deeper into his warm mouth. He smiled into the kiss when he heard a slight whimper and a tightened grip on his shirt. Uryuu's senses were right on, and Ichigo's mind turned to mush when the kiss's intensity had risen. So much so, that his legs were extremely weak and soon they buckled under him. Uryuu, catching Ichigo's stimulated body, laughed as their kiss was cut off.

"Are you okay?" He asked, sitting him on the bed.

"Yeah, you're just such a damn good kisser…" Ichigo confessed, pursing his now reddened lips.

"Why, that's the greatest compliment I've ever gotten," Ishida chuckled. "Thanks."

"You're 'quite' welcome," Ichigo mocking the way he talked with a smile on his face.

"So… Homework tonight?" Uryuu asked, changing the subject drastically, which left Ichigo to deadpan.

"Not really, it's not due for a while." The redhead sighed.

He got up to reach in his bag for the syllabus his professor had given them. "

What's the homework on?" Uryuu was quite curious about Ichigo's school life.

"We have to write our interpretation of what a vampire is." He handed the paper to his pale love interest.

Uryuu looked at the paper as if it were a monster. "What class is this for?" He mumbled blandly.

"History." Ichigo replied.

"What do vampires have to do with history?" All of a sudden he felt very uncomfortable even speaking the word in which he was.

"I dunno, he said that through the ages, people had different interpretations of them so…" He shrugged. "…he wanted ours, is all."

Ichigo looked at Uryuu, whose face seemed to have gotten paler, and put hand on his shoulder. "You know, he asked us what we think when we hear the word 'vampire' and for some reason…" He held back a laugh. "…I thought of you."

"I-I have to go!" Uryuu dared not look up at Ichigo, in fear of him looking through him and seeing his true nature.

"Uryuu!" Ichigo called out. As Uryuu left for the door Ichigo jetted up to grab his arm. "Hey, what the hell!" he said disapprovingly.

The vampire stood frozen, his hand midway at reaching for the door. Slowly, he turned his head toward Ichigo, looking him in his amber eyes.

"I-I should get going, it's late…" He murmured.

The redhead laced his fingers with Uryuu's, and the warmth of just his hand felt like searing heat from a fiery volcano.

"Come sit with me a while." Ichigo whispered his breathy feathering Ishida's ear.

That small action almost made _his_ knees buckle, and it didn't take much to change his mind as Ichigo pulled him back into the room. Sitting back on the side of the soft cushiony bedding, he watched the Strawberry switch off his bedroom light and sit lightly beside him. He reached over to his window to open his blinds, wanting to observe the natural light of the moon.

"So, what did _you_ do today?" Ichigo quirked

Uryuu didn't really have to think about it; the night before he had helped kill a pedophile, and slept soundly, body well nourished from blood, thought he thought he'd leave the killing part out.

"I slept all day today." He answered.

"What kind of job does your brother have?" Ichigo felt it was the time to get to really know Ishida.

"Mm… back in Iwo Jima he was a senator," He thought hard, remembering what his brother told him his job when he was human. "I'm not really sure what he does now though."

"A politician, huh? Strange," Ichigo smirked. "I thought he'd be an executioner, he's pretty cold."

"Hmph, he should be one!" Uryuu agreed as they laughed, thinking it'd be the perfect occupation for his brother.

Leaning back on his arm the tired redhead yawned.

"You want me to tuck you in?" Uryuu chuckled.

Ichigo nudged him in the shoulder playfully. "'Wouldn't mind that."

Uryuu slipped off the bed and watched Ichigo slide in between the sheets and his blue comforter which the raven haired man gently pulled up to his chest as he got settled in.

"Can I have a goodnight kiss?" the red head asked cheekily leaning his forehead for him to kiss it.

"You want me to read you a story and get you favorite teddy too, dear?" Ishida asked in a motherly voice leaning down on his knees to Ichigo's level.

"Oh boy, that would be swell!" The carrot said jokingly.

Ichigo reached over to take off Uryuu's glasses to reveal the pale man's true face.

"You're so gorgeous…" He smiled sleepily.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Ishida leaned in to kiss Ichigo's forehead. "Sweet dreams."

"Stay till I go to sleep…" The tired one mumbled, already halfway there.

Uryuu watched Ichigo drift off into dreamland; head snuggled so comfortably into his fluffy pillow and the comforter wrapped so securely around his form. Suddenly he wished he was Ichigo's comforter.

Watching closely he could hear the rhythmic thumping of his heartbeat, pumping virgin blood through his whole body. The thought of getting just a mouthful of the sleeping beauty's life force made him shutter with pleasure. Now was a good time for him to leave, before other wicked thoughts crossed his mind.

He carefully opened the window as quietly as he could and took a big leap outdoors, into the cool night, landing gracefully outside of his own house. Taking his glasses out of his pocket, he slipped them back on and decided to take a walk.

Ichigo cracked open an eye and watched Uryuu jump from his window. After the figure was gone, he scrambled from the bed and found that he had landed nicely all the way across the street to his own house.

"What… the hell?" Ichigo mumbled to himself.

That was quite a feat he had just witnessed. Originally he had woken up wanting to know if Uryuu was still there watching him sleep, but he had woken up to find something much more strange. Curiosity getting the best of him, he decided that he'd follow his strange, pale love interest tonight. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

* * *

_**Tsuara: **_ Whoa~~ we see Uryuu and Byakuya drinking blood! Whaaa~ so scary!

Anyway, Thanks for waiting for me patiently and reading this chapter!

Was it too much? I hope not…and sorry that it's goin' kinda slow. It has to happen you guys!

Well, I'd like to thank Florence and the Machine cause they're awesome!

And you're awesome. Catch you next chapter.


	6. Chapter 05: Spilt Milk

Title: Cutting Edge Charisma

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, I'm just a fan of it. Just like everyone else.

Rating: R+

**Warning: **Hardcore vampire stuffs. Ki-s-s-i-n-g.

_*Authoresses' note:_ FORGIVE MEEE~~~It's been a really craaaazy 2010-11 year, in my absence, I was in Japan for school. So there. Good enough excuse, right? No more, I swear to you all!

* * *

**Spilt Milk:05**

It was quite chilly that particular night, and the moon was of a bright yellowish hue in the sky. Uryuu took one glimpse behind his back and then disappeared into the night. Ichigo, on the other hand, was on his way out the door. As soon as Uryuu disappeared Ichigo had stepped outside, expecting to find the beautiful raven walking down the street, but there was nothing to be seen.

"_Where the hell did he go?"_ The redhead asked himself, looking down the street in confusion. The cold wind that passed made him shiver, as he shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets and walked down the street, searching. Running through his mind was how Uryuu was able to perform such extraordinary feats; he had to get to the bottom to it, and hopefully he would tonight.

He searched as sneakily and stealthily as he could, also being fully aware of a killer on the loose; he felt he had to make his search quick. When he came up with nothing that night, he stopped his seeking as quickly as he started it. How could he have searched as far as he could and find no trace of Uryuu? Sighing in defeat, he decided to head back home, but before going there, he figured-while he was out-that he'd take a nice brisk stroll by his favorite riverbank; a place that was both sad and dear to him, a place very precious to him.

When he arrived, he heard and immediately found a middle aged woman lying on the ground moaning, with someone on top of her. His eyes ventured down in disgust and he took a small step forward, which landed on a twig, making a loud snapping sound. The sound seemed to signal the woman that there was somebody near, and she released a blood curdling scream for help.

"PLEASE, H-HELP ME! HE-" The person on top groaned, lifting themselves off of her. All at once, the woman stopped moaning and groaning and just laid on the grass by the river bank, completely lifeless. Ichigo felt a wave a fear wash over him, and wanted to run, but knew he could no longer.

"H-Hey, s-stay away from her!" He yelled, shaking at the same time, hoping the quiver in his voice would not make him sound weak to the criminal.

The stranger above her stood up, and Ichigo looked at the woman and saw that her throat was ripped to shreds and blood dripped from the attackers fingers. The carrot-top onlooker's heart now began to beat out of his chest, or was trying to anyway. The attacker turned and revealed their face, making Ichigo's mouth drop wide open in shock.

'I-Ishida!" Ichigo felt light headed as he saw his love interest, white as a ghoul, with blood gruesomely splattered on his face, chest and hands; it was truly a grisly sight to behold.

The twenty-three year old was left speechless and could not get words out of his mouth.

"I-It's not what it looks like…" Was all Uryuu could say.

The redheaded university student just stood there with his hands clenched tightly in fists, trembling in fear. Uryuu stepped forward, eyes looking grossly concerned toward Ichigo.

"S-Stay the hell away from me!" Ichigo yelled suddenly, and took off running as fast as his feet could carry him.

The younger ran as fast as he could, faster than he had ever run in his life. Who or what the hell was Uryuu? Why did he kill that woman? As he ran for his life and as his heart beat the startled blood through his body, these questions ran through his head along with a great amount of despair. He thought to himself to maybe stop for a quick second to see if the ghoulish man was following him. He did just that; stopped, turned, but found no one. Thinking he was gone, the redhead turned around, prepared to jog back home, and there was the pale man looking down at him.

"Please, don't run." Came his voice softly, holding Ichigo's shoulders gently and looking into his eyes, reassuring him that he wouldn't be harmed.

"G-GET OFF ME!" The mortal was hysterical, punching and kicking the calmer one away.

"Look at me… Ichigo…" The redheaded boy did as he asked, fear ridden as he looked him in the eye; he seemed to have been possessed to look.

"W-What are you? What the hell is going on!" He tried to wretch himself away from Uryuu's grasp but he couldn't move.

"Stay still and I'll tell you." Uryuu didn't raise his voice; he kept it as calm as possible, even when he felt Ichigo begin to struggle.

He didn't want to hurt him; that was the last thing he desired to do. They stared at each other, and through the thick darkness, Uryuu could hear Ichigo's heart pumping. He could also see the blood flowing ever so lively in his veins. Tempted as he was, he restrained himself from taking any action just yet.

"What do you think I am?" The raven asked.

"A murderer…" Ichigo stammered, turning his gaze away from Uryuu's frightening blue irises.

"NO! …No…" The bespectacled ancient looked at Ichigo intently, trying to get him to look at him again.

"…Then why did I see you…" Still, the younger had his eyes downcast, fear pouring out of him, he was too afraid to look up anymore.

"…She had to go, she murdered her three children," Uryuu replied gloomily.

All of a sudden Ichigo began to remember hearing recently in the news about a woman who murdered her children and got off with just a slap on the risk. That seemed to be the Japanese justice system now-a-days. _"So_…_that was her?" _He thought to himself.

"Ichigo… I should have told you this from the start, but…" Before Uryuu could finish, his fearsome brother appeared before him.

"Byakuya… B-Brother!" Uryuu stumbled in shock, stepping back. Ichigo was about to run, when the older man caught him in his grasp, turning him so they were face to face.

"Rest, and by tomorrow morning, you won't remember a thing from tonight," He whispered softly into the young man's ear as he lowered his now sudden unconscious body to the ground.

"What did you do to him?" The bespectacled younger cried, stepping towards his resting lover.

"Something you should have done… what were you thinking!" The older went from calm to raging in a matter of seconds.

"I DON'T WANT TO LIE TO HIM!" The raven stood up, facing his brother, both equally angry with the other.

Taken aback, he looked at his younger brother. "You speak as if you… care for this dirty… mortal." His gaze grew sharp and piercing as he looked upon the younger.

"I'm sick of lying, Byakuya. You think lying is protection, but it isn't."

The noble elder looked on, looking past Uryuu; he did not want to hear his words. "If you care for this mortal, then it is best you lie to him. You know dealing with humans is forbidden among the immortals."

The young vampire made a sound of annoyance. He picked up the unconscious redhead and disappeared with him in his arms, leaving the fair skinned elder alone on the street.

Uryuu arrived at the open window of the sleeping boy's house. Carefully, he eased into the room and placed the frail figure onto his bed. He thought to strip him of his clothes so he would be more comfortable, but a blush came over his face. '_I shouldn't…_' He thought. Ichigo looked so innocent laying there, his chest rising up and down as he breathed, full of life. Uryuu carefully took off his shirt and pants, leaving the boy only in boxers. He tucked him into his blankets, shut the window and closed the curtains. He had come to the decision that he would wait for him to awaken and then reveal the dreadful truth.

* * *

Four AM had arrived rather quickly and Uryuu could feel the sun would be up rather soon. He could almost feel the upcoming heat of the golden orb radiating though the curtains of Ichigo's window, and it made him a bit uneasy. He hoped and prayed that no one out of nowhere would disturb the curtains and open them, though that was pretty unlikely. Death by sunlight would not be his favourite way to go out.

Soon, he heard the strawberry tossing and turning in his bed, seemingly having a nightmare. He wasn't sure if he should awake the young man himself, fearing he'd startle the poor thing to death. It wasn't long that Ichigo sat right up in bed, as if he were never asleep at all. Startled awake by the dream, he sighed, holding his sweaty face. Turning finally, he was a bit shocked to see Uryuu sitting at his desk, smiling at him.

"I'm not going to lie, Uryuu, that _is_ a little creepy."

The older one laughed. "I apologize; I swear it wasn't my intention to be creepy." He stood up and walked over to sit next to Ichigo on the bed.

"I had a horrible nightmare; you ripped out this lady's throat." Ichigo laughed, scratching the back of his head.

Uryuu slightly flinched at his response, gave a nervous laugh, and smiled warmly. "I-Is that so?"

"Yeah, like shit! It seemed so real too," He continued, not seeming to acknowledge Uryuu's nervous state. "But I don't think I could associate with a dude who liked to rip out necks for a living,"

The raven pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, a nervous human habit he still kept. "I'm sure it was quite scary, huh?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, it was like, you weren't even you…" He looked deeply into Uryuu, real concern in his eyes. "…You were like some rabid monster, drinking blood."

The other bit his lip, trying to hold back any saddened emotion he felt bubbling up at that moment.

"W-What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

He reached for the curtain to let in some of the early day, but Uryuu grabbed his hand. "Please don't."

"I-I just wanted to brighten up the place a little, it's kinda dark."

"I-I'm allergic to sunlight." The immortal stammered.

"No way!" Ichigo scoffed. The blue eyed man looked at the younger with a dark look of seriousness in his eyes. "Y-You're serious… I guess that explains why you're so pale… You seem to have a lot of allergies…"

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that…" In all his long years, Uryuu was never as nervous as he was at that moment.

"What, are you allergic to me too?" Ichigo asked, another laugh rolling through the uncomfortably silent room.

The paler one did not look up from his downcast gaze. "Oh quite the contrary; I could _never_ be allergic to you." Uryuu finally spoke pushing up his glasses once more, as he looked up with a small smile.

He leaned in quite close to Ichigo, staring into his curious amber eyes. He desperately wanted to tell Ichigo the truth, he wanted the boy to see what he saw, and feel what he felt. Closer he leaned into Ichigo, and the younger drew into the warmth of the always cold skinned man before him.

"C-Can I kiss you?" Ichigo swallowed nervously and excitedly, eyeing the other's pink lips.

"Of course…" Uryuu breathed closing the gap and embracing him as they kissed.

It seemed like an hour had passed as each kiss was exchanged, and with each kiss, the more heated they both felt. Uryuu tried to push away, but Ichigo, now sitting on his lap, cupped his face to claim a kiss. He trailed his hands up the back of the redhead, who had the upper hand. Ichigo leaned down to nip slightly at his ear as he messaged his back, earning him a groan. Uryuu slightly pushed him back.

"Uryuu… Just…" The sly boy slowly ran his hand down the crotch of Ishida's pants. "We're both adults..."

Slowly, Uryuu's fangs began detracting from their hiding place as Ichigo continued. "S-Stop…" He moaned. Kissing down his neck, the human decided to ignore his plea. "Ichigo, y-you don't…"

Uryuu tried to contain himself, but it seemed like the more he did, the worse the sensation of ravaging Ichigo got. With one swift move, they two were now on the floor, this time Uryuu pinning him down. With his knee between Ichigo's leg he gently rubbed as Ichigo closed his eyes.

"You have no idea what you've just done," He voiced to the unknowing victim.

"Whatever it is, I know I want it," Ichigo blushed, half lidded eyes peering into Uryuu's lightened blue eyes. To Ichigo, he thought it was his lust-ridden mind that had distorted Uryuu's image. He saw before him a god-like handsome figure, as white as winter's fresh snow.

"You don't know _what_ you want." Ishida said a little venomously.

Ichigo sat up to face the other man; with eyes and face sincere, he said with a soft smile, "I know I want you."

All of a sudden Uryuu's heart sank; he wanted to run and hide. The thoughts that ran through his head as he pinned the younger man on the floor, he soon regretted.

"I-Ichigo…" He pulled the boy to his feet. The amber eyed boy peered at him, searching for what he wanted to say. "I… Look at me." Uryuu said a little sternly.

"What?" Ichigo began to get confused; one minute he was enjoying a make-out session and now it had evolved into this.

"I-I don't want to lie to you anymore." The vampire, again, gazed downwards, seeming to search for an answer on the floor.

"Lie about what?"

"About me," He stepped closer to Ichigo. A small sliver of fear crept into the redhead and Uryuu could sense his uneasiness. "I… drink blood."

Ichigo stood there and stared for a minute, blinking, and then, like an eruption, he burst into a fit of laughter.

"You're kidding me, right?" He asked after his fit of laughter. Uryuu just stood there, not laughing, making Ichigo's smile faded into a frown.

"I have to go anyway," Uryuu said quickly, wanting to get home before the sun had fully risen.

"Wait!" Ichigo pulled him back by the shoulder, but Uryuu snarled hideously at him.

Ichigo startled back and looked on as Uryuu disappeared out the window and back to the darkness of his home. The twenty three year old stood speechless and motionless in his room; he had no idea, or could not quite fathom what had just happened.

**Tsuara: **Whaaaat? Uryuu…just up and tell 'em already! Jeez~!

I wonder what is next~~? Also, I wanna give a shout out to my awesome Beta~

You're the greatest. What do you all thing? Okay? Let me knooow~

and I promise no more long absences~


	7. Chapter 06: Rejected Identity

Title: Cutting Edge Charisma

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, I'm just a fan of it. Just like everyone else.

Rating: R+

**Warning: **Possible cursing and major sexual scenes. You've been waaarned!

_*Authoress note: I'M SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG. That is all. _

**Rejected Identity****:06**

"_Earlier this morning, police and coroners were called in to look into the murder of Natsuomi Miyajimo, also known as the 'killer mom'. She was found by a nearby riverbank; brutally slaughtered. Police don't know whether it was a retribution kill, or if was the same killer responsible for the previous murders…"_

Ichigo stopped eating his toast, and stared at the television screen. His blood went cold as he listened to the female newscaster report the oncoming news. It was exactly like the nightmare he had last night; the same woman, the same riverbank, and the same injury.

'W-What the h-hell…' He stuttered, slightly shaking as he watched on in horror.

Was it really a dream he had last night? Or…was he really present at the scene of the crime. So many questions were swimming through his head; he didn't know what to think or what to do.

'T-Tell dad I'll be back later on tonight.' Ichigo told to his little sisters, as he ran out the front door in a great rush; he had to talk to someone about this, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

* * *

Shinji must have jumped out of bed when he heard the loud banging at his door.

'Who the fuck is this….' He grumbled, stomping to open the door.

He opened it to find a distraught and very frightened redheaded former student. "I-Ichigo..?"

Ichigo leaned in and hugged his formed mentor furiously. "S-Shinji… I-I saw it… I SAW IT!'

"Slow down, jeez… Saw what?" Shinji brought him into the house and shut the door quickly, leading him in to sit at the kitchen table.

"I saw that lady get murdered…" The frightened red head murmured.

'What lady?"

'The one who was found murdered at the riverbank today.' Ichigo explained.

Shinji looked confused for a minute, but then he remembered hearing something about a guilty mother murdering her children found dead today.

'Y-You saw who killed her?" Shinji asked giving Ichigo a major questioning look.

'I-I think I did… Well… I had a nightmare last night about what was found today.'

"Hm…" The elder held his chin in a pondering pose. 'What was your nightmare, Kurosaki?'

The redheaded young man fiddled with his fingers as he thought over the horrid details of the nightmare. 'Well… the woman, she was being fed upon by, like, a vampire or something, and she was screaming for help,' He said quietly. 'That's all I remember… There was blood everywhere…'

"Ah… I see…" Shinji said, looking at his troubled young student. "You don't' remember anything else in your dream?" he wanted to try to draw out as much memory from Ichigo as he could.

Ichigo shook his head in despair. 'Oh….wait….' He had almost forgotten the most important detail. 'Uryuu was the one ripping into her…' He fiddled with his hands as he thought about how horrible he had felt dreaming such a thing.

"Uryuu, huh? Your boyfriend, right?" the blonde asked, smirking slightly.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Ichigo blushed furiously, thinking of what had happened with him and Uryuu earlier that morning. He didn't know what had come over him then.

"Uh- huh…then why are you having such a graphic dream about him?' Shinji side glanced him as he stood up, folding his arms.

"I dunno…" The strawberry was then silent for a few moments. He took a deep breath and proceeded to spill out what was really on his mind. "Uryuu… H-He told me that he drinks blood."

The long haired blonde's toothy smirk turned into a dark frown. "Come again?"

"He said he drinks blood, and I laughed at him, so he left for home in a hurry." Ichigo explained.

"Hn. He was serious, huh?" Shinji's gaze drew darker, as the carrot top nodded slowly. Shinji grabbed Ichigo's shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. "You should stay away from him, Ichigo; he sounds like bad company."

Ichigo sat there, taken slightly aback. "W-what are saying? He's some kind of a mass murderer? So he likes blood, so what?" He felt like the air around him was no longer welcoming, so he stood up to leave.

"Ichigo heed my goddamn warning. Stay far away from the likes of him." Those were Shinji's final words to Ichigo, as the younger walked out the door into an amazing twilight.

* * *

A fanciful, electronic tune filled the air as Ichigo strolled quickly down the sidewalk, back to his home. He flipped open his cellphone and held it to his ear.

"Hey Chad!" He smiled as he spoke.

"H-Hi, Ichigo. How are you?" Chad said making small talk.

"I'm alright. Just came from Shinji's house, and now I'm headin' home." He explained.

"Why are you walking by yourself? I'm co-" Ichigo stopped him.

"I'm not far from home Chad, I'll be fine, jeez!" He mumbled, slightly pissed that his friend was treating him like a small child. As Ichigo cross the street to the next sidewalk he saw a shadowy figure walk toward him. "Y-You can stay on the phone 'til I get home though…" The twenty three year old said shakily.

When the figure crossed into the light of a street lamp and Ichigo held his breath; it was Uryuu.

"U-Uryuu!" He forgot everything he was doing and flipped his cellphone shut, hanging up on poor Chad.

"Ichigo." The bespectacled young looking man looked sullenly at the redhead running toward him. "What are you doing out this evening?" He asked, not really caring about the answer.

"I was at an old friend's house." The livelier one replied, walking next to him. "I-I wanted to apologize for laughing at you earlier…" The strawberry looked down in shame as he apologized.

Uryuu stopped walking and looked at him questioningly. "You were telling me something important, and it wasn't right of me to laugh. I'm sorry." Ichigo continued to apologize.

Uryuu stepped closer to the younger man and leaned in mere inches away from his face. "You have a very kind soul, Ichigo. I don't want to ruin that," His cool breath whispered across the other's lips lightly before the gap between them was closed.

Ichigo began to question the other's words, but he kiss he was receiving made it quite difficult to think. It was a warm evening, as the two stood on the street corner for what seemed like an hour, kissing.

"Please, keep me company tonight," Uryuu seemed to plead after the two were released from their lip lock.

The redhead seemed to have hesitated as he thought of his love interest's dreaded brother. Uryuu read his facial expression and seemed to know his worries.

"He will conveniently be gone for three nights, so there is no need to worry about him interrupting us."

"O-Okay, sure… but let's stop by my house first so I can get a toothbrush, okay?"

Uryuu nodded. The events of tonight had not gone like he had planned, but that was alright because these new plans were even better. He had originally been out to feed, but he guessed he would have to wait for tomorrow night for that; he wasn't all that hungry, regardless.

After they took a quick stop to Ichigo's house, they trekked the menial distance to Ishida's, across the street. As soon as the two stepped foot in the darkened house, the carrot top's cellphone signaled he had gotten a text.

'Yoruichi said she needs you to do a shift tonight' The text was from Renji.

Ichigo quickly texted back he had other matters to attend to, and that he can do a shift tomorrow night. In return, Renji texted back that Yoruichi wasn't happy about his reply, and had made a sarcastic remark about Ichigo possibly getting laid.

"Is something the matter?" Ishida asked, moving to the other side of the room to turn on the lights.

"N-No, it's my friend. I told him I couldn't make it to work today." The redhead explained.

"Ah, I see. Are you hungry? I can make you something, if you are."

"Mmm. I don't really have an appetite for food tonight, but thanks." Ichigo replied with a small smile.

"Oh? Do you have an appetite for something else?" Ishida gave a slightly seductive smirk as he leaned on the couch in the living room.

"Maybe…" Ichigo returned the facial gesture, playing along.

He walked up to the older man sitting, and quite erotically, gave him a long lasting kiss before turning away. "You're so delicious."

Uryuu blushed, which, to Ichigo, was a very rare and beautiful sight to see.

"I-Ichigo… Before we move any further…." Uryuu grasped the mortal's hand ever so gently. "Come upstairs so we can talk."

Ichigo was a bit skeptical at the tone of voice, but he followed the paler one to the second floor and to his room, anyways. As they sat on the bed together, Uryuu's dead heart pumped furiously the remaining blood he had fed on the previous night.

"What is it?" The redhead looked quizzically at blue eyes that looked a bit saddened.

The vampire could not look into the oh so questioning amber pools as he spoke. Instead, he opted to look at the other's soft lips… but that made his mind wander. Soft; how soft and warm Ichigo's lips were pressed onto his, and how reddened they had become from kissing earlier. Shaking out of his quick reverie, he spoke.

"I-I… I'm not…" Slightly, he shook. He was so afraid of what was to become of their relationship if he told Ichigo the truth about himself. "I'm not human… Ichigo."

For some reason, at that moment, his blood tears began welling up in his eyes. He fought his hardest to contain them, but one slipped by, and fell down his stark white cheek. Ichigo stared at him and the blood that flowed out of his eyes; he brushed one of the paler one's eyes clean with his hand. He stared at the blood on his finger and was curious as to if it were salty, like real tears. As he reached to put the blood-tear stained finger into his mouth, Uryuu grabbed his hand.

"D-Don't… They're not salty." He seemed to have read what was on the curious human's mind.

"Is crying tears of blood what classifies you as inhuman?" Ichigo said, not seeing the big picture.

Uryuu began to unbutton his shirt with a long sigh. Blushing, Ichigo watched as the pale figure unbuttoned his black shirt to reveal the white background of his chest, adorned with the pink accents of his nipples. Ichigo had to fight off a sudden urge that washed over him to kiss the porcelain skin before him. The undead one took Ichigo's hand and placed it right over where his living heart was supposed to be beating. It had slowed to almost a stop, now that his nervousness had finished. He was back to normal, and he wanted Ichigo to feel the non-beating heart in his chest.

"Do you feel it?" The half shirtless man asked.

"I don't feel anything." Ichigo said, deadpanned. He found it quite odd how cold the skin was beneath his hand, as well. "I think I already kind of knew."

For a moment, things were silent, and then Uryuu spoke up. "W-What? Knew what?" He felt breathless in shock.

Ichigo sat there, unmoving, and finally turned to face the pale figure. "That you were something like a vampire." The human gave a small smile despite still being a bit frightened.

"…How?" Uryuu questioned, as his eyes ventured back to the lips he longed to kiss again.

"You have the obvious signs, and I never, ever see you in the daytime. You also never eat…. Food…" The student explained in almost a whisper.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"A little, but you seem like a good guy, so I hope you won't bit my neck like you did last time," Ichigo smirked.

Ishida was taken aback so far, that he did not know what to say. He thought Ichigo was clueless about the bite he gave him. "I-I'm sorry about that."

"It's alright, just ask next time, okay?" Ichigo whispered into his ear before kissing him on the cheek, and then attacking his eager lips. "You're so cold; let me warm you up…"

The mortal was now sitting on top of the immortal man. After Uryuu got over his initial shock from the realization and the kiss, he was glad that Ichigo could accept his 'condition'.

"Are you okay with me…?" Uryuu still had to be sure.

Ichigo silenced him with another warm kiss to the lips. The warm wandering hands seemed to scorch Uryuu's cold exterior with every inch they covered. Each slip of the other's tongue made him feel like he was going to explode on the inside. Somehow the two ended up off the bed, and on some far wall of his room where he pinned Ichigo. Ichigo, in turn, wanted to take the black button-up shirt off Uryuu's tempting body and throw it on the ground; the raven-haired immortal obliged. The one being pinned to the wall pushed his leg between the other to gain more closeness, but it still didn't seem like enough. Ichigo felt so much twisting and turning in his lower stomach, that it almost pained him. He pushed his hips into Uryuu, as Uryuu mirrored him. To an onlooker it may have looked like they were fighting, while in reality, it was a game of attraction.

Hurriedly Uryuu unbuttoned the now extremely tight jeans Ichigo wore, and gently pulled them down enough to expose what was most important. Ichigo did the same to him and they both were now pumping each other's hands in the other's pants desperately, almost violently. A decade, it felt like, but no, it probably was more than that, since Uryuu felt like how he was feeling now. So much heat and so much lust had filled the air, as the two were still lip locked and stroking each other to climax; it wouldn't take long.

"Uryuu… I-I'm…" Ichigo could barely make a sentence as he felt himself draw nearer to the end.

"M-Me too…" Ishida almost moaned.

The raven pushed Ichigo's hand away just before he came, but kept a strong hold on the redhead to finish him off. The twenty three year old trembled as he climaxed hard in the other's hand; his vision blurred.

"U-Uryuu!" He moaned, trying to control his tone as he panted hard.

A small smile crept onto the vampire's face as he heard his name slip from those sweet lips in pure pleasure.

"Why'd you push me away?" Ichigo asked, after they had both recovered. He looked quite sad as to why he couldn't finish the other off as the other did to him.

"I don't… think you want to know." Uryuu said as he stood up to go to the bathroom. "Would you like me to draw you a bath?" He asked, stepping out the room.

"Sure!" The tough redhead smiled brightly. He realized that the smile was a little out of character, but he felt like tonight had become a very good night.

As the bespectacled man washed his hands and began to draw a bath for his love interest, he, too, thought that tonight had turned out better than he could ever have imagined.

* * *

**Tsuara: **Whoa you guys, what just happened? I'm glad Uryuu finally told Ichigo the semi-truth! Anyway, thanks for keeping up with this story, ya'll I really appreciate it! Review if you got somehtin' to say~ and I'll catch you on the flip side! :D


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